Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of endometriosis on school attendance and attainment among girls and young women.

The government recognises that endometriosis can affect a pupil’s health, wellbeing and ability to attend school and participate fully in education. Regular attendance is important for pupils’ attainment, wellbeing and wider development, and schools should work with pupils and families to understand and address health-related barriers to attendance.

Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions, which would include endometriosis. Schools must have regard to the department’s statutory guidance about support for pupils at school with medical conditions, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.

This guidance makes clear that pupils with medical conditions should be properly supported so that they can play a full and active role in school life, remain healthy and achieve their academic potential.

The statutory guidance regarding collaboration between schools, academy trusts, governing bodies and local authorities is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance. This guidance promotes a 'support first' approach and expects schools to be particularly mindful of absent pupils because of physical or mental ill health. Schools should work in partnership with families to understand the individual barriers a pupil faces, put appropriate support in place and consider reasonable adjustments where relevant.

In March, the department consulted on revised guidance on supporting children and young people with medical conditions, and this will be published in due course.