What is emotionally based school avoidance?

The short answer

Emotionally based school avoidance, often shortened to EBSA, is a descriptive term used by some services when emotional distress is closely connected with difficulty attending school. It is not a medical diagnosis, a test result or a complete explanation. The same attendance pattern may involve anxiety, health, bullying, learning, sensory conditions, relationships, change, transport or support that is not working. Describe when attendance becomes difficult, compare easier and harder situations, include the child's account and check what school has observed. Use the term only if it helps organise support. A useful plan changes a specific barrier, names who will act and reviews whether the child's access to education improves.

• EBSA is a description of attendance difficulty involving emotional distress, not a diagnosis.
• The term does not establish one cause or one correct intervention.
• Describe the sequence and context of difficult attendance before interpreting it.
• Include the child's words, school observations, health and environmental factors.
• Turn the working explanation into a specific, reviewable support plan.