National Attendance Figures – year to date

The most recent attendance data has now been published and shows that the attendance rate across the academic year to date was 92.4%. The absence rate was, therefore, 7.6% across all schools.

By school type, the absence rates across the year to date were:

• 6.1% in state-funded primary schools (4.5% authorised and 1.5% unauthorised)
• 9.3% in state-funded secondary schools (5.8% authorised and 3.5% unauthorised)
• 13.5% in state-funded special schools (10.2% authorised and 3.3% unauthorised)

Across the year to date, 22.3% of pupil enrolments missed 10% or more of their possible sessions and are therefore identified as persistently absent. By school type, the persistent absence rate across the year to date was:

• 18.0% in state-funded primary schools
• 27.3% in state-funded secondary schools
• 39.3% in state-funded special schools

Both overall absence and persistent absence rates have been driven by illness during the 2022/23 academic year.

Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, overall absence was in long-term decline (from 6.5% in 2006/07 to 4.7% in 2018/19), driven by decreasing rates of authorised absence. This trend was reflected in declining rates of persistent absence, which fell from 19.3% in 2006/07 to 10.7% in 2013/14 and then remained relatively stable until the pandemic began in the 2019/20 academic year. In contrast, unauthorised absence was on a slight upward trajectory prior to the pandemic, rising from 1.1% in 2015/16 to 1.4% in 2018/19. This was largely driven by persistent absence for unauthorised other reasons (PAUO) which increased from 1.7% in 2015/16 to 2.2% in 2018/19. To effectively tackle the complex barriers to attendance, schools and local authorities need to be able to identify those at risk of being PAUO and target the interventions as early as possible.

‘Persistent absence for unauthorised other reasons: Who is at risk?’ has been published to provide an in depth look at those most at risk of this type of absence within secondary school education.

See also the DCC attendance newsletter for this term.