Data set from Pupil absence in schools in England

Absence by pupil characteristics

Latest data

Published 20 March 2025

Last updated 21 March 2025

Absence information for the full academic year, by pupil characteristics including SEN, FSM, language, year group, gender and ethnicity for England.

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Data set details

• Theme: Pupils and schools
• Publication: Pupil absence in schools in England
• Release: Academic year 2023/24
• Geographic levels: Local authority, National, Regional
• Indicators:
  • Authorised absence rate
  • Authorised absence rate exact
  • Authorised holiday rate
• Filters:
  • Characteristic
  • School type
• Time period: 2017/18 to 2023/24

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Data set preview

Table showing first 5 rows, from underlying data

time_identifier	absence_terms	time_period	geographic_level	country_code	country_name	region_code	region_name	old_la_code	new_la_code	la_name	education_phase	characteristic	enrolments	sess_possible	sess_overall	sess_authorised	sess_unauthorised	sess_overall_percent	sess_authorised_percent	sess_unauthorised_percent	enrolments_pa_10_exact	enrolments_pa_10_exact_percent	enrolments_pa_50_exact	enrolments_pa_50_exact_percent	sess_possible_pa_10_exact	sess_overall_pa_10_exact	sess_authorised_pa_10_exact	sess_unauthorised_pa_10_exact	sess_overall_percent_pa_10_exact	sess_authorised_percent_pa_10_exact	sess_unauthorised_percent_pa_10_exact	sess_auth_illness	sess_auth_appointments	sess_auth_religious	sess_auth_study	sess_auth_traveller	sess_auth_holiday	sess_auth_ext_holiday	sess_auth_excluded	sess_auth_other	sess_auth_totalreasons	sess_unauth_holiday	sess_unauth_late	sess_unauth_other	sess_unauth_noyet	sess_unauth_totalreasons	sess_overall_totalreasons	sess_x_covid	sess_y_exceptional	sess_auth_illness_rate	sess_auth_appointments_rate	sess_auth_religious_rate	sess_auth_study_rate	sess_auth_traveller_rate	sess_auth_holiday_rate	sess_auth_excluded_rate	sess_auth_other_rate	sess_auth_totalreasons_rate	sess_unauth_holiday_rate	sess_unauth_late_rate	sess_unauth_other_rate	sess_unauth_noyet_rate	sess_unauth_totalreasons_rate	sess_overall_totalreasons_rate	sess_x_covid_rate	sess_y_exceptional_rate
Academic year	Six half terms	202324	Regional	E92000001	England	E12000004	East Midlands				Total	Ethnicity Major Any Other Ethnic Group	8305	2820478	178454	110231	68223	6.32708	3.90824	2.41885	1532	18.44672	162	1.95063	454604	88743	44392	44351	19.52095	9.76498	9.75596	75857	7520	7243	583	42	1836	z	3710	13390	110181	19249	4903	42839	1192	68183	178364	0	3968	2.689508658	0.266621473	0.256800443	0.020670255	0.001489109	0.065095349	0.131537988	0.474742225	3.9064655	0.682472971	0.173835782	1.518856024	0.04226234	2.417427117	6.323892617	0	0.140685373
Academic year	Six half terms	202324	Regional	E92000001	England	E12000004	East Midlands				Total	Ethnicity Major Asian Total	69770	24517237	1368434	920755	447679	5.58152	3.75554	1.82598	10691	15.3232	644	0.92303	3451099	582588	319882	262706	16.88123	9.26899	7.61224	688605	56261	71196	5430	15	13201	z	11127	73443	919278	188063	26983	223805	8081	446932	1366210	0	26912	2.80865662	0.229475287	0.290391613	0.022147683	6.12E-05	0.053843751	0.045384396	0.299556594	3.749517125	0.767064413	0.110057263	0.912847561	0.032960484	1.822929721	5.572446846	0	0.109767671
Academic year	Six half terms	202324	Regional	E92000001	England	E12000004	East Midlands				Total	Ethnicity Major Black Total	30361	10275973	417491	279598	137893	4.06279	2.72089	1.3419	2977	9.80534	405	1.33395	836521	166440	90021	76419	19.89669	10.76136	9.13534	198484	20079	9414	1457	14	2896	z	10891	35426	278661	23915	14736	94848	4089	137588	416249	0	15876	1.931534853	0.195397555	0.091611763	0.014178706	0.00013624	0.028182246	0.105985097	0.344745943	2.711772403	0.232727353	0.143402479	0.923007486	0.039791852	1.33892917	4.050701573	0	0.154496319
Academic year	Six half terms	202324	Regional	E92000001	England	E12000004	East Midlands				Total	Ethnicity Major Mixed Total	40107	14187971	1094448	671108	423340	7.71391	4.73012	2.9838	9042	22.54469	1076	2.68282	2943350	665201	341294	323907	22.60013	11.59543	11.00471	487359	42082	8404	3903	22	7240	z	32905	87508	669423	73889	39904	301990	7030	422813	1092236	0	20511	3.435015479	0.296603369	0.059233276	0.027509219	0.000155061	0.051029143	0.231921816	0.616776	4.718243363	0.520786235	0.281252337	2.128493214	0.049549016	2.980080802	7.698324165	0	0.144566126
Academic year	Six half terms	202324	Regional	E92000001	England	E12000004	East Midlands				Total	Ethnicity Major Unclassified	14626	4031221	365468	216536	148932	9.06594	5.37147	3.69446	3786	25.88541	772	5.27827	954993	249817	128729	121088	26.15904	13.47958	12.67946	143536	11945	3326	1057	309	2071	z	11412	42352	216008	21795	9016	115084	2782	148677	364685	0	7524	3.56060856	0.296312209	0.08250602	0.026220344	0.007665171	0.051374013	0.283090409	1.050599806	5.358376532	0.540655052	0.223654322	2.854817436	0.069011349	3.68813816	9.046514691	0	0.186643203

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Variables in this data set

Table showing first 5 of 56 variables

Variable name	Variable description
characteristic	Characteristic - Filter by characteristic
education_phase	School type - Filter by school type - Total includes primary, secondary and special
enrolments	Number of pupil enrolments
enrolments_pa_10_exact	Number of persistent absentees (10% or more missed)
enrolments_pa_10_exact_percent	Percentage of persistent absentees (10% or more missed)

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Footnotes

1. Total includes state-funded primary, secondary and special schools. Data for special schools is available from 2016/17 to present.
2. Sessions recorded as not attending due to COVID circumstances are included as possible sessions in 2020/21 and 2021/22 only, but not as an absence within absence rates.
3. From 2023/24 the school census data item ‘sex’ replaced ‘gender’. Historical use of the word “gender” in the data collection may have meant that “gender identity” was reported in some cases, as opposed to legal sex. While this is unlikely to have a significant effect on overall figures, it may affect figures in more granular subdivisions. Time-series in this publication prior to spring 2023 which contained gender as a category may be affected.
4. EHC plans – A pupil has an EHC plan when a formal assessment has been made. A document is in place that sets out the child’s need and the extra help they should receive. EHC plans were introduced in September 2014 replacing Statements of SEN, with these being phased out by April 2018. This category therefore includes Statements of SEN for the years up to 2018.
5. SEN support - From 2015, the School Action and School Action Plus categories were combined to form one category of SEN support. Extra or different help is given from that provided as part of the school’s usual curriculum. The class teacher and special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) may receive advice or support from outside specialists. The pupil does not have an Education, Health and Care plan.

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