Table 1D - Daily workforce absence in education settings during the COVID-19 outbreak (12 October to 17 December, 8 March to 22 April)
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This file contains workforce absence statistics for education settings from 12 October 2020 to 17 December 2020 and again following wider reopening of schools, from 8 March 2021 to 16 September 2021. It excludes half term terms (19th October - 23rd October, and 2nd November 2020), the national lockdown during the spring term (4 January to 5 March 2021), Easter data (29 March - 19 April 2021) and summer holiday (17 July 2021 - 6 September 2021). Data for workforce during the restricted opening of schools can be found in table 1e.
Data is in this file has been scaled to account for non-response so it is nationally representative.
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Data set details
- Theme
- COVID-19
- Publication
- Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
- Release
- Week 42 2021
- Release type
- Geographic levels
- National
- Indicators
- Number of teachers and school leaders absent for other reasons
- Number of teachers and school leaders absent with a confirmed case of covid-19
- Number of teachers and school leaders absent with a suspected case of covid-19
- Filters
- Date
- Phase of education
- Time period
- 2020 Week 42 to 2021 Week 41
Data set preview
| time_period | time_identifier | geographic_level | country_code | country_name | date | phase | response_rate | number_of_teachers_and_school_leaders_on_roll | number_of_teachers_and_school_leaders_on_roll_in_open_settings | number_of_teachers_and_school_leaders_absent_with_a_suspected_case_of_covid_19 | proportion_of_teachers_and_school_leaders_absent_with_a_suspected_case_of_covid_19 | number_of_teachers_and_school_leaders_absent_with_a_confirmed_case_of_covid_19 | proportion_of_teachers_and_school_leaders_absent_with_a_confirmed_case_of_covid_19 | number_of_teachers_and_school_leaders_isolating_NHS_track_and_trace_contact_inside_education_setting | proportion_of_teachers_and_school_leaders_isolating_NHS_track_and_trace_contact_inside_education_setting | number_of_teachers_and_school_leaders_isolating_NHS_track_and_trace_contact_outside_education_setting | proportion_of_teachers_and_school_leaders_isolating_NHS_track_and_trace_contact_outside_education_setting | number_of_teachers_and_school_leaders_isolating_due_to_contact_in_school | proportion_of_teachers_and_school_leaders_isolating_due_to_contact_in_school | number_of_teachers_and_school_leaders_isolating_due_to_contact_outside_school | proportion_of_teachers_and_school_leaders_isolating_due_to_contact_outside_school | proportion_of_teachers_and_school_leaders_absent_for_covid19_reasons | number_of_teachers_and_school_leaders_absent_for_other_reasons | proportion_of_teachers_and_school_leaders_absent_for_other_reasons | number_of_teaching_assistants_and_other_staff_on_roll | number_of_teaching_assistants_and_other_staff_on_roll_in_open_settings | number_of_teaching_assistants_and_other_staff_absent_with_a_suspected_case_of_covid_19 | proportion_of_teaching_assistants_and_other_staff_absent_with_a_suspected_case_of_covid_19 | number_of_teaching_assistants_and_other_staff_absent_with_a_confirmed_case_of_covid_19 | proportion_of_teaching_assistants_and_other_staff_absent_with_a_confirmed_case_of_covid_19 | number_of_teaching_assistants_and_other_staff_isolating_NHS_track_and_trace_contact_inside_education_setting | proportion_of_teaching_assistants_and_other_staff_isolating_NHS_track_and_trace_contact_inside_education_setting | number_of_teaching_assistants_and_other_staff_isolating_NHS_track_and_trace_contact_outside_education_setting | proportion_of_teaching_assistants_and_other_staff_isolating_NHS_track_and_trace_contact_outside_education_setting | number_of_teaching_assistants_and_other_staff_isolating_due_to_contact_in_school | proportion_of_teaching_assistants_and_other_staff_isolating_due_to_contact_in_school | number_of_teaching_assistants_and_other_staff_isolating_due_to_contact_outside_school | proportion_of_teaching_assistants_and_other_staff_isolating_due_to_contact_outside_school | proportion_of_teaching_assistants_and_other_staff_absent_for_covid19_reasons | number_of_teaching_assistants_and_other_staff_absent_for_other_reasons | proportion_of_teaching_assistants_and_other_staff_absent_for_other_reasons |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Week 42 | National | E92000001 | England | 12/10/2020 | All state-funded schools | - | 480654 | - | 2572 | 0.5 | 2040 | 0.4 | - | - | - | - | 5758 | 1.2 | 4669 | 1 | 3.1 | 16562 | 3.4 | 653091 | - | 2248 | 0.3 | 2188 | 0.3 | - | - | - | - | 7364 | 1.1 | 4913 | 0.8 | 2.6 | 18392 | 2.8 |
| 2020 | Week 42 | National | E92000001 | England | 12/10/2020 | State-funded alternative provision | - | 5054 | - | 26 | 0.5 | 12 | 0.2 | - | - | - | - | 84 | 1.7 | 60 | 1.2 | 3.6 | 239 | 4.7 | 6099 | - | 42 | 0.7 | 24 | 0.4 | - | - | - | - | 51 | 0.8 | 75 | 1.2 | 3.1 | 207 | 3.4 |
| 2020 | Week 42 | National | E92000001 | England | 12/10/2020 | State-funded primary | - | 240218 | - | 1014 | 0.4 | 991 | 0.4 | - | - | - | - | 3351 | 1.4 | 2277 | 0.9 | 3.2 | 7686 | 3.2 | 409371 | - | 1398 | 0.3 | 1443 | 0.4 | - | - | - | - | 4847 | 1.2 | 3127 | 0.8 | 2.6 | 11449 | 2.8 |
| 2020 | Week 42 | National | E92000001 | England | 12/10/2020 | State-funded secondary | - | 213465 | - | 1382 | 0.6 | 901 | 0.4 | - | - | - | - | 1793 | 0.8 | 2116 | 1 | 2.9 | 7674 | 3.6 | 172523 | - | 521 | 0.3 | 462 | 0.3 | - | - | - | - | 953 | 0.6 | 1091 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 3955 | 2.3 |
| 2020 | Week 42 | National | E92000001 | England | 12/10/2020 | State-funded special | - | 21918 | - | 150 | 0.7 | 134 | 0.6 | - | - | - | - | 530 | 2.4 | 215 | 1 | 4.7 | 963 | 4.4 | 65097 | - | 287 | 0.4 | 259 | 0.4 | - | - | - | - | 1514 | 2.3 | 621 | 1 | 4.1 | 2780 | 4.3 |
Variables in this data set
| Variable name | Variable description |
|---|---|
| date | Date |
| number_of_teachers_and_school_leaders_absent_for_other_reasons | Number of teachers and school leaders absent for other reasons |
| number_of_teachers_and_school_leaders_absent_with_a_confirmed_case_of_covid_19 | Number of teachers and school leaders absent with a confirmed case of covid-19 |
| number_of_teachers_and_school_leaders_absent_with_a_suspected_case_of_covid_19 | Number of teachers and school leaders absent with a suspected case of covid-19 |
| number_of_teachers_and_school_leaders_isolating_due_to_contact_in_school | Number of teachers and school leaders isolating due to contact in school |
Footnotes
- The purpose of this data collection is primarily to understand attendance and teacher availability. This data is reported directly by schools via DfE's daily education settings survey. It is not the primary source of data on infection, incidence and COVID-19 cases overall.
- Figures for independent schools are unlikely to be representative. We looked at a sample of non-responding school websites across different phases to assess whether they were open to children of key workers and vulnerable children. This was to enable us to assess whether non-responding schools were as likely to be open as the responding schools. For independent schools, we found evidence that non-responding schools were more likely to be closed than responding schools. Open rates and attendance rates for independent schools are likely to be lower than reported here.
- All national level figures are adjusted for non-response. Regional and local authority level figures are based on responding schools only. See accompanying document for full methodology.
- There are only a small number of special post 16 settings therefore the data is expected to be variable and sensitive to changes in one or more settings.
- COVID-19 related reasons include a confirmed or suspected case of coronavirus and those required to isolate by NHS Test and Trace due to contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19, where they are not exempt from self-isolation under the changes of 16th August 2021.
- Absence rates for teaching assistants and other staff are likely to be less robust as more work part-time. There are likely to be inconsistencies in how schools treat part time staff in their reported data, for example some may update their on roll numbers daily to account for part-time staff ‘expected’ to be on-site and others may not.
- Workforce absences are not known in closed schools. This means these figures are likely to be under-estimates of the numbers of workforce with confirmed or suspected cases and self-isolating, particularly when the proportion of schools closed for COVID-19 related reasons is higher.
- On-site testing for staff was available from 4 January to 5 March 2021. All staff are now encouraged to take two rapid COVID-19 tests each week at home. Rates of confirmed cases and isolation among workforce may be impacted by levels of testing.
- COVID-19 related reasons include a confirmed or suspected case of coronavirus and those required to isolate by NHS Test and Trace due to contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19, where they are not exempt from self-isolation under the changes of 16th August 2021.
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