Does Attendance Affect Grades? What the Research Says

"I'll just watch the recording." "The slides are online anyway." "It's only one lecture." Most students have said one of these. Sometimes skipping is fine. But the research on attendance is some of the most consistent in education, and it points in one direction. This guide explains what the studies found, how big the effect really is, when missing class is the right call, and how to protect your grades when you do.

What the research found

The biggest study is a 2010 meta-analysis by Marcus Credé, Sylvia Roch and Urszula Kieszczynka, published in the Review of Educational Research. A meta-analysis pools many studies to get a more reliable answer than any single one. They combined data from 69 samples covering 21,195 college students.

• Attendance and class grades: correlation of .44.
• Attendance and overall GPA: correlation of .41 (33 samples, 9,243 students).
• Compared with other predictors: attendance was a better predictor of college grades than SAT scores, high-school GPA, study skills and the amount of time spent studying.

The authors concluded the link is strong enough that raising attendance could noticeably improve average grades and reduce failure rates. Earlier research pointed the same way. In 1993, economist David Romer found that about a third of students were missing from economics lectures at three US universities on a typical day, and that attendance was clearly linked to exam performance.

Correlation or cause?

The obvious objection: maybe motivated students both go to class and get good grades, so attendance only looks important. Researchers have tested this in three ways.

1. Controlling for the student. Luca Stanca (2006) followed the same students across many exams. This removes fixed traits like ability and motivation. Attendance still had a significant effect on learning.
2. Matching missed days to exam questions. David Marburger (2001) recorded which days each student missed. Students were more likely to answer questions wrong when the material was taught on a day they were absent. That points to the missed class itself, not just the type of student.
3. A natural experiment. At a large US public university, Christopher Dobkin, Ricard Gil and Justin Marion (2010) made attendance compulsory for students who scored below the median on the midterm. Students just below and just above that line are very similar, so the comparison works like an experiment. The rule raised attendance, and each 10 percentage points of extra attendance raised final exam scores by 0.17 standard deviations.

How big is the effect, in plain numbers?

Statistics like ".44" and "0.17 standard deviations" are hard to picture. Here's what they mean in practice.

• A correlation of .44 is large for education research. In the same review, attendance had a stronger link with grades than SAT scores, high-school GPA or study habits did.
• 0.17 standard deviations depends on how spread out the marks are. If marks on a final exam usually spread about 15 points around the average, 0.17 standard deviations is about 2.5 marks for every 10 percentage points of attendance. Going from 60% to 90% attendance would be roughly 7–8 marks. That's often the difference between two grade bands. (This is an illustration, not a promise. Courses differ.)

If your university uses a credit-weighted CGPA, those marks add up across every course you take. See how to improve your CGPA for the full calculation.

Can lecture recordings replace going to class?

Usually not. Recordings are useful, but two large UK studies suggest they work best as an extra, not a replacement.

• Edwards & Clinton (2019) studied what happened when recordings were introduced on a UK university course. Attendance fell once recordings were available. Lower attendance was linked to lower marks. And watching the recordings did not make up for the effect of missing lectures.
• Nordmann et al. (2019) studied psychology students in every year of a Scottish undergraduate degree. For first-year students, both attending and using recordings predicted better results. Weaker students gained from using recordings as an extra. But only stronger students could use recordings to make up for low attendance.

Why? A recording is easy to postpone. One week of "I'll watch it later" quickly becomes five hours of video the night before the exam. In the lecture you also hear questions from other students, the lecturer's hints about the exam, and the parts that aren't on the slides.

Why going to class helps

• You learn what's on the exam. Lecturers stress what they think matters. Marburger's results show that the material from a missed day is the material you're most likely to get wrong.
• You get spaced practice for free. Going to class every week spreads your learning over the term. Spaced practice is one of the two study methods a major review rated "high utility" (Dunlosky et al., 2013).
• You can ask questions straight away. A 10-second question in class can save an hour of confusion later.
• It builds a routine. A fixed timetable makes it easier to plan study time around it. See how to plan a daily schedule.
• Lecturers get to know you. That helps when you need an extension, a reference letter or a research opportunity.
• Some marks depend on it. Many courses grade participation, in-class quizzes or labs that you can't make up later.

Free calculator: what does one missed class cost?

How it's calculated: cost per class = yearly fees ÷ (classes per week × teaching weeks). Fees aren't the only cost. Living costs, a scholarship you need to keep, or a visa that depends on attendance all make each class worth more. To see how many classes you can miss and still stay above your minimum, use the bunk calculator.

When missing class is the right call

Going to every class isn't always the right choice. Stay home or step away when:

• You're ill or contagious. You won't learn much, and you may make others ill.
• You're dealing with a family or mental health emergency. Contact your university's student support or counselling service. Most have formal processes for this.
• You have a religious observance or an approved university activity, such as a sports fixture or a conference.
• You're burned out. One planned rest day is better than three weeks of half-attending. See how to beat study burnout.

Do this whenever you miss a class:

1. Check the attendance rule. Many universities set a minimum, often 75% to 90%. Some courses have stricter rules for labs, seminars or tutorials. International students: your visa may also depend on attendance. See the international student guide.
2. Tell your lecturer early and politely, ideally before the class. Our guide on how to email a professor has copy-paste templates for this.
3. Get the material within 48 hours: slides, a classmate's notes and the recording if there is one.
4. Log it. Record the absence the same day so your attendance percentage is always correct. If your attendance has already dropped, follow the recovery plan for attendance below 75%.

How we checked this guide

Every figure on this page comes from the published abstract or the journal's own summary of each study listed in the sources section, and we kept each claim to what those sources state. Most attendance research comes from college and university courses, often in economics and psychology, so results may differ in other subjects and in schools. This guide gives general study advice. Your university's own attendance rules always apply. Read our editorial policy to see how we research and update guides.

Frequently asked questions

Does attendance affect grades in college?

Yes. A meta-analysis of 69 studies with 21,195 college students found attendance is strongly linked to class grades (.44) and GPA (.41). It predicted grades better than SAT scores, high-school GPA, study skills or time spent studying (Credé et al., 2010).

Is it just that good students go to class?

Only partly. Studies that control for ability and motivation still find an effect. In an experiment at a large US university, 10 percentage points more attendance raised final exam scores by 0.17 standard deviations without lowering grades in other classes (Dobkin et al., 2010).

Can lecture recordings replace going to class?

Not reliably. Watching recordings did not make up for low attendance in Edwards & Clinton (2019). In Nordmann et al. (2019), only stronger students could use recordings to make up for missed lectures. Use them to review, not to replace class.

How much does skipping one class cost?

Divide your yearly fees by the number of classes in a year. Fees of 10,000 with 15 classes a week over 30 weeks is 450 classes, or about 22 per class. Try the calculator with your own numbers.

When is it okay to miss class?

When you're ill or contagious, during a family or mental health emergency, for a religious observance or an approved university activity. Check the attendance rule, tell your lecturer early and catch up within a few days.

What attendance percentage should I aim for?

At least your university's minimum, often 75% to 90%, and higher if you can. Grades keep improving as attendance rises, so treat the minimum as a floor, not a target.

Sources

• Credé, M., Roch, S. G., & Kieszczynka, U. M. (2010). Class attendance in college: A meta-analytic review of the relationship of class attendance with grades and student characteristics. Review of Educational Research, 80(2), 272–295.
• Dobkin, C., Gil, R., & Marion, J. (2010). Skipping class in college and exam performance: Evidence from a regression discontinuity classroom experiment. Economics of Education Review, 29(4), 566–575.
• Stanca, L. (2006). The effects of attendance on academic performance: Panel data evidence for introductory microeconomics. Journal of Economic Education, 37(3), 251–266.
• Marburger, D. R. (2001). Absenteeism and undergraduate exam performance. Journal of Economic Education, 32(2), 99–109.
• Romer, D. (1993). Do students go to class? Should they? Journal of Economic Perspectives, 7(3), 167–174.
• Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students' learning with effective learning techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58.
• Edwards, M. R., & Clinton, M. E. (2019). A study exploring the impact of lecture capture availability and lecture capture usage on student attendance and attainment. Higher Education, 77(3), 403–421.
• Nordmann, E., Calder, C., Bishop, P., Irwin, A., & Comber, D. (2019). Turn up, tune in, don't drop out: the relationship between lecture attendance, use of lecture recordings, and achievement at different levels of study. Higher Education, 77(6), 1065–1084.