Pontypool school uses attendance records to target pupil support

St Alban’s RC High School in Pontypool is using several years of attendance and GCSE records to guide wellbeing support, mentoring and work with families, Torfaen council says in an update published on 15 October.

What the school reports

The council’s summary says Year 11 pupils with 95 per cent attendance averaged B grades, while those with attendance of 90 per cent or less averaged D grades. These are reported group averages, not a prediction for an individual pupil.

Limits of the evidence

The release does not provide the underlying dataset, sample size, exact study years or calculation method. Its attendance-band descriptions also overlap at the boundaries. The figures therefore cannot establish how much difference attendance alone made, or be treated as a result for all Welsh schools.

Support for barriers to attendance

The school says it uses individual support packages, including wellbeing help, mentoring and contact with families. The council encourages families who need help with attendance to seek it. The published summary does not explain the circumstances behind individual pupils’ absences, and those pupils are not identified here.