In the UK, Europe and the USA, the state provides free education in nursery, primary and secondary schools.  In Sweden, this entitlement begins at 1 year old, whilst in Scotland it begins at age 3 and continues until age18. In common with the rest of the UK, in Scotland, children between the ages of 5 years and 16 years are required by law to be in education, normally in schools, thus amounting to eleven years of compulsory education. The ages at which compulsory education begins and ends varies from country to country in Europe and across States in the USA where the start age ranges between five and eight years and the compulsory element can extend to anywhere between  fourteen and eighteen years. Levels of truancy reported and non-adherence to entitlement range from a low of 1-2% of pupils in France reckoned to be truanting at any one time, to a more worrying 30% of American pupils who do not complete high school.

The Scottish Government publishes annual statistics on school attendance that indicate that overall absence rates are around 7%, based on the number of half-days attended over the school year as a percentage of possible school half-days for those pupils who were in school for six months or more .  These figures cover attendance at mainstream primary and secondary schools as well as special schools and whilst the overall average rate of absence is 7%, there is considerable variation among the sectors. 

This paper explores the particular nature of entitlement and adherence in schools and looks at the problem of absence as a means to understanding why some young people and their parents choose not to take up their entitlement to mainstream schooling. It is then argued that measures taken to address non-attendance depend on whether absence and truancy are seen as delinquent behaviours to be punished or whether they are seen as indicators of a breakdown in the relationship between schools and pupils that requires to be addressed.

Whilst the percentage of absences may appear small, it nevertheless represents a considerable and enduring number of children and young people, around 45,000 in Scotland, for example. This paper explores the nature of and reasons for non-adherence to entitlement in schools and seeks to explain why a considerable number of pupils and their parents choose not to take up their entitlement.

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