England starts term with absence still far too high. In the 2023/24 academic year, 1.49 million pupils were persistently absent (one in five) and 171,000 were severely absent.
Over the weekend, ministers put behaviour and attendance centre‑stage. The Department for Education says “seven out of every 30 classroom minutes are lost to kids kicking off” and the Education Secretary called on “parents, schools and families” to play their part in addressing the situation. New attendance and behaviour hubs are being rolled out.
Government measures almost everything – deprivation, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), ethnicity... Yet it still refuses to publish attendance or attainment by family type. That omission matters.
We know from multiple studies that the single most important factor in children’s outcomes is stability at home. And we also know that robust UK studies show married parents are less likely to separate than cohabiting parents, and children born to married parents record better average cognitive and socio‑emotional outcomes.
So why won’t ministers record and report parents’ marriage status as they do other characteristics? Is the Government intent on airbrushing the importance of marriage out of children’s lives just when home stability is most needed?
C4M’s call on Government is simple and lawful: Record family background using data the state already holds.
Add a “registered within marriage or civil partnership at birth” flag to the National Pupil Database by securely linking to ONS birth registrations, and publish de‑identified attendance and attainment by family type. Refresh at Reception, Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4. Track parental separation and re‑partnering events over time inside trusted research environments, and let’s see what we find.
This is standard practice. DfE already routes access via the ONS Secure Research Service or Integrated Data Service, and national linkages like child health insights prove the model at scale. No new forms for schools. Let’s just do it.
To press the point locally, you can forward this email to your MP and ask for routine publication of marriage‑linked attendance and attainment figures.
Real marriage – growing up with your married biological mother and father – is the optimal environment for upbringing. It provides stability and supports attendance, behaviour and attainment. Public policy should prioritise, promote and protect it wherever possible.