Attendance is not the same as participation: what inclusive digital learning can teach us

By Gareth Reynolds, Education and Impact Director at ASDAN, and Dhruv Patel, Chief Executive of Nisai Learning 

Across education, attendance remains one of the defining challenges of the post-pandemic landscape. Department for Education data for England shows overall absence across the 2025-26 academic year to date at 6.74%, with higher rates in secondary and special schools. Office for National Statistics estimates also show that 13.5% of 16 to 24-year-olds in the UK were not in education, employment or training (NEET) in January to March 2026. 

These figures raise a wider question for schools, colleges, alternative provision and policymakers. How do we stop learners becoming disconnected from education before that disconnection becomes long-term? 

Digital learning is often part of that conversation, but too much of the debate focuses solely on access. Devices, platforms and connectivity matter, but access is not the same as meaningful participation. 

For learners experiencing emotionally based school avoidance, mental health challenges, disrupted education or special educational needs and disabilities, the more important question is what helps them re-engage in a sustained and meaningful way. 

Findings from an ongoing research project between Nisai Learning and the University of Staffordshire offer insight into what re-engagement can look like. Drawing on more than five years of pupil-level data from thousands of learners across the UK, average attendance before joining was just 34%. Many had experienced significant disruption, with some spending extended periods out of education. 

Within a structured, digitally enabled learning environment, authorised attendance more than doubled to 74%. This includes live lessons and asynchronous learning, although most learners engage in live provision for most of their timetable. Despite significant barriers, 94% progressed to further or higher education, reintegration into school, or employment and training. 

These findings matter not simply because attendance improves, but because they point to participation, belonging and progression. 

“For us, education is about meeting the learner where they are and rebuilding trust, both in themselves and in education,” says Dhruv Patel, Chief Executive of Nisai Learning. “This journey begins with our teachers engaging learners; when they feel safe, supported and able to succeed, participation follows. Attendance then becomes an outcome of engagement, not the starting point.” 

Flexibility does not mean lowering expectations. It means creating conditions in which participation becomes possible again. For some learners, that begins long before consistent physical attendance does. 

However, digital learning alone is not the answer. Technology can create access points, but meaningful engagement depends on the quality and purpose of the learning experience. Its structure, relevance, opportunities for reflection and visibility of progress all influence whether learners reconnect. 

Contextualised, learner-focused and portfolio-based approaches can support this process. When learners prepare, take action, reflect and recognise progress through structured but flexible activities, they gain a clearer sense of ownership and agency. Digital environments can strengthen this by allowing them to build evidence over time, revisit learning and demonstrate skills in different ways. 

This matters as the sector considers how education can become more inclusive while maintaining high expectations and meaningful progression routes. Some learner groups experience greater barriers to consistent attendance. That should not lead to lower ambition. It should prompt closer consideration of the routes, structures and learning models that make participation possible. 

Inclusion is not solely about access to education. It is also about whether learners feel able to participate, contribute and see a future pathway for themselves. 

For practitioners, this may mean thinking differently about how learning is designed, evidenced and experienced. For leaders, it may require broader conversations about flexibility, progression pathways and what successful participation looks like for different learners. 

“Engagement is not the end goal. It is the starting point,” says Gareth Reynolds, Education and Impact Director at ASDAN. “The real opportunity is to use that moment of re-engagement purposefully, helping learners build confidence, develop core human skills and see a meaningful route forward. Digital learning is most powerful when it supports learners to engage, elevate and empower themselves through learning that feels relevant, visible and achievable.” 

Communication, problem solving, teamwork, self-management and adaptability are vital for future progression. These skills are often developed most effectively through applied, contextualised and reflective learning rather than content delivery alone. 

The challenge is no longer whether digitally enabled learning has a place in education. It is how these approaches remain inclusive, purposeful and connected to long-term progression. 

If education policy aims to reduce persistent absence, prevent learners becoming NEET and create stronger routes into education, training and employment, participation must mean more than physical presence. 

Attendance is not the endpoint. Meaningful participation is. 

The updated opening figures are taken from the latest Department for Education attendance release and the Office for National Statistics NEET estimates. The Nisai findings and attributed quotations are retained from the original article.