News from the National Attendance Portal.
Official press releases, announcements and media information from the National Attendance Portal and Attendance Magazine.
Latest & future releases
ATTENDANCE PORTAL
National Attendance Portal welcomes more than 4,000 visits from 27 countries in its first two days
The newly launched National Attendance Portal has achieved substantial international reach during its first 48 hours.
UNITED KINGDOM — 26 AUGUST 2026
The newly launched National Attendance Portal has received more than 4,000 visits from people across 27 countries in its first 48 hours.
Created to support everyone navigating attendance, the Portal brings together practical tools, guidance, training, research and specialist resources for families, schools, education professionals and the wider services supporting children and young people.
The early international reach demonstrates that the challenges surrounding attendance, inclusion and belonging extend far beyond any single school, community or country.
“We are delighted by the response to the Portal during its first two days and by the level of engagement we are already receiving.”
“Most schools across the UK are still on their summer break, so this is only the beginning. As the new academic year approaches, we anticipate an avalanche of enquiries, visits and engagement from schools, families and professionals looking for practical support.”
“The National Attendance Portal is here to serve everyone navigating attendance. Whether you are a parent worried about your child, a school leader developing strategy, a teacher seeking practical resources or a wider professional supporting a family, there is something here for you.”
“Please visit and share the Portal. The wider its reach, the more children, families and professionals it can support.”
The Portal includes free resources alongside an extensive collection of specialist tools and Premium support. Its content covers attendance strategy, family engagement, emotionally based school avoidance, medical needs, inclusion, governance, professional development and direct support for children and young people.
The National Attendance Portal also provides a new home for Attendance Magazine, ensuring that independent commentary, professional insight and practical examples remain freely available to readers.
Visit the National Attendance Portal:
https://nationalattendanceportal.uk
ENDS
Notes to editors
Press contact
For interviews, comment, further information or photographs relating to the National Attendance Portal or Attendance Magazine, please contact Kate.
ATTENDANCE PORTAL
New National Attendance Portal launches to bring schools, families and professionals together around attendance
Practitioner-led UK resource launches with a substantial free core, free Attendance Magazine, practical attendance tools and a growing Premium resource library — developed from a determination to give something back to the education profession.
UNITED KINGDOM — 24 AUGUST 2026
A new UK-wide resource designed to change the way school attendance and absence are understood will officially launch at 12 noon on Monday 24 August 2026.
The National Attendance Portal brings together practical resources, professional learning, research, commentary, interactive tools, family support and specialist guidance in one growing digital platform.
Its starting point is simple: attendance is about far more than a percentage.
Absence may be connected with belonging, mental health, physical health, SEND, disadvantage, anxiety, family circumstances, transport, housing, safeguarding, social care and a child's experience of education itself.
The Portal has therefore been designed to bring together schools, families, children and young people, health professionals, local authorities and wider professional groups rather than treating attendance as the responsibility of schools alone.
“Behind every attendance statistic is a child, a family and a story. Attendance cannot be understood properly if we treat it simply as an administrative number. We need schools, families, health services and wider professionals to understand one another and work together.”
Built during treatment — and inspired by a desire to give something back
The launch of the National Attendance Portal also has a deeply personal story behind it.
Founder and editor Colin Cattanach was diagnosed with Stage 3 prostate cancer on 2 January 2026. Much of the work involved in developing the Portal, building its resources and preparing its new national home was undertaken during cancer treatment and recovery.
The experience brought a renewed determination to take more than three decades of experience in education and use it to create something practical that could be given back to the profession.
Rather than being conceived simply as another website, the Portal became an opportunity to bring together ideas, resources, experience and learning in one place — freely sharing much of that work and creating something intended to continue developing well into the future.
“Being diagnosed with Stage 3 prostate cancer changes your perspective. During treatment I kept thinking about what I could give back to a profession that has been such a huge part of my life.”
“The National Attendance Portal grew out of that determination. I wanted to take the experience, resources and ideas gathered over many years and turn them into something that other people could genuinely use.”
“I hope the Portal continues to grow for many years. If it helps a school find a better way forward, helps a parent feel less alone, helps a young person feel better understood, or helps different professionals understand the story behind a child's absence, then it will have achieved something worthwhile.”
“In that sense, I hope it can be a small legacy — something positive created during a difficult period of my own life that gives something back to education.”
The personal story behind the Portal is explored further in Belonging: The Story Behind the National Attendance Portal. Buying the book helps support the continuing conversation around attendance and belonging while contributing to an organisation working to improve the lives of men affected by prostate cancer.
Supporting Prostate Cancer UK
The National Attendance Portal is proud to support Prostate Cancer UK, whose work includes research, awareness, information, support and campaigning for men and families affected by prostate cancer.
Visitors who wish to support the charity directly can also donate through Prostate Cancer UK.
Free at the core
A substantial part of the National Attendance Portal will remain freely accessible. This includes core resources, news, commentary, selected tools and Attendance Magazine.
Attendance Magazine will continue to be free to read and is planned to be published six times each year.
The Portal will be updated every week with new resources, stories, professional views, opinion, research and practical attendance material, helping it remain a contemporary resource rather than a static website.
Premium for those who want to go deeper
Alongside the extensive free core, annual membership gives users access to a growing Premium collection of deeper attendance tools, editable resources, training materials, leadership support, strategic frameworks and specialist content.
The Premium library is not divided into artificial professional silos. Members can explore the wider Premium collection because attendance does not belong to one profession.
A school leader may need a family-engagement resource. A parent may benefit from understanding good school practice. A health professional may need an education resource. The Portal is deliberately designed to encourage that wider understanding.
For school and Multi Academy Trust memberships, eligible staff can receive their own Premium access under the organisation's active membership rather than sharing one login.
Membership is annual and membership income helps support the ongoing work required to maintain, update and develop the Portal — including technical costs, research, writing, editing, resource creation and continuing development.
Independent — and proudly so
The National Attendance Portal is not part of the Department for Education and is not operated by or on behalf of any government department or agency.
The Portal is practitioner-led and independent. It will refer to statutory guidance, strong research, evidence and useful work produced by governments and other organisations where relevant, but remains free to explore, question, challenge and share different perspectives.
Its ambition is to create a shared space where schools, families and wider professionals can better understand the complexity of attendance and absence while learning from one another.
“We are not trying to put everything behind a paywall. The free Portal matters enormously to us. Membership is there for people who want to delve deeper, and it also helps fund the continuing work needed to keep the wider Portal current, relevant and useful.”
A developing resource
The National Attendance Portal is intended to evolve continuously. Premium resources are not presented as a frozen catalogue. New materials will be added regularly and existing resources may be expanded, refreshed or reorganised as guidance, research, technology and professional practice develop.
The Portal launches publicly at 12 noon on Monday 24 August 2026.
www.nationalattendanceportal.uk
Notes to editors
Press contact
For interview requests, comment, further information, photographs or enquiries relating to the National Attendance Portal, Attendance Magazine, the story behind the Portal or its support for Prostate Cancer UK, please contact Kate.
A growing press archive
Future National Attendance Portal announcements, research releases, partnerships, new Attendance Magazine editions and major resource developments will be added here as the Portal continues to grow.