Catching student absences early – A path to early support

Ylä-Savo Vocational College (YSAO) implemented Annie’s support messages based on accumulated absences at the beginning of 2025. The experiences have been promising: support needs are identified earlier, students are directed more effectively to appropriate support, and staff find the system genuinely useful.

Challenge: Absences accumulate, but support measures often come too late

YSAO already had a clear model for monitoring and responding to absences. Once a student accumulates 30, 60, or 90 hours of unexplained absences, a discussion and follow-up of necessary support measures is initiated.
Still, many problems grow too large before a student receives the help they need.

“We had long known that we needed to intervene in absences earlier – but lacked the means. Annie has provided a new and impactful method for this,” says wellbeing coach Jenni Tikkanen.

Solution: Annie bot intervenes early – support starts automatically

YSAO decided to utilize Annie Advisor’s capability to automate outreach when absences begin to accumulate. The Annie bot sends a personalized support message to the student’s phone, asking whether the absences relate to, for example, wellbeing challenges or everyday management issues. This gives the student a low-threshold opportunity to explain their situation – and Annie routes the responses to the appropriate professional.

“The goal was to reach the student before they accumulate 30 hours of unexplained absences. Often, stomach aches and headaches can actually signal something else, like anxiety related to the school day or social tension – Annie helps identify these early signs,” explains Pirita Mattila, who works in student wellbeing projects.

Results: The right support at the right time – no student goes unnoticed

In the first three months, Annie sent 177 support messages, 27 of which led to concrete support actions. By comparison, only 3% of support needs were identified in mass messages sent manually to large groups.

“This clearly reaches the students who are struggling the most – and who need support the most,” Jenni states.

Student welfare professionals have also received new clients through Annie who were previously not on their radar.

“We have individual cases where a student responded because of the message and received help at the right time – perhaps just before they started considering dropping out. That has immense human and societal value.”

Implementation: Initial investment pays off

At YSAO, Annie’s implementation process was considered manageable and well-supported. The initial phase involved effort, especially in shaping integrations and message flows, but Annie Advisor’s support received praise.

“If I had to choose just one message flow to implement, it would be the one responding to absences. It hits precisely the most critical pain point in a student’s everyday life,” says Pirita.

Staff also experienced the messages as concrete support in their own work: teachers and counselors respond earlier when Annie flags concerns. In addition, staff can also pay attention to those who do not respond – silence is a signal too.

Looking Ahead: Analytics drive development

The data produced by absence messages has also proven valuable for institutional development. Mental wellbeing has clearly emerged as the most significant area of support need – and this information guides YSAO’s wellbeing team and student welfare professionals in planning support such as anxiety groups, stress management, and other assistance.

“This is one of the most concrete and impactful ways to leverage digitalization to support students. Annie is not just automation – it’s a truly effective tool.”