Can’t come, won’t come, don’t come: supporting better attendance and attainment of first year law students through an Early Intervention Pilot

Abstract

This article reports on the effectiveness of an Early Intervention Pilot (EIP) with year 1 law students in Lancashire Law School, UCLan in 2018-19. The initiative was designed to address concerns over attendance and attainment identified in a previous School project. The EIP used non-attendance thresholds to trigger early intervention student meetings with Course Leaders to explore reasons for absence and to offer appropriate advice and signposting. Quantitative analysis of EIP data reveals improvements in both attendance and attainment for the cohort when compared with an earlier cohort. Additional findings reveal benefits in early identification of significant numbers of students with a range of needs, allowing for more effective signposting to sources of support during their first semester. This article contributes to the literature in exploring the impact of an early intervention approach within a law school context and in revealing the scale and depth of complex student needs.