Data set from Pupil absence in schools in England

Absence for pupils with post looked after arrangements (PLAA)

Latest data

Published 26 March 2026

Last updated 26 March 2026

Overall absence for all enrolments in state-funded primary, state-funded secondary and special schools for pupils with post looked after arrangements.

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Data set details

• Theme: Pupils and schools
• Publication: Pupil absence in schools in England
• Release: Academic year 2024/25
• Number of rows: 120
• Geographic levels: National
• Indicators:
  • Overall absence rate
  • Percentage of persistent absentees
  • Number of pupil enrolments
• Filters:
  • Post looked after arrangement
  • School type
• Time period: 2018/19 to 2024/25

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Data set preview

Table showing first 5 rows, from underlying data

time_period	time_identifier	absence_terms	geographic_level	country_code	country_name	education_phase	plaa	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	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_interview	sess_auth_reg_performance	sess_auth_temp_reduced_timetable	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_q_la_arrangements	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_ext_holiday_rate	sess_auth_excluded_rate	sess_auth_interview_rate	sess_auth_reg_performance_rate	sess_auth_temp_reduced_timetable_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
202425	Academic year	Six half terms	National	E92000001	England	Total	Adopted children	29370	10519970	648460	484270	164190	6.16	4.6	1.56	3970	13.52	272840	55810	1430	4620	120	z	z	22940	2110	460	49950	73990	484270	36210	15690	108860	3420	164190	648460	z	31130	730	2.59	0.53	0.01	0.04	0	z	z	0.22	0.02	0	0.47	0.7	4.6	0.34	0.15	1.03	0.03	1.56	6.16	z
202425	Academic year	Six half terms	National	E92000001	England	Total	Child arrangements order	6200	2144300	201150	117860	83300	9.38	5.5	3.88	1660	26.68	67340	9420	930	640	160	z	z	8360	370	50	15350	15240	117860	9040	9530	63430	1300	83300	201150	z	8540	90	3.14	0.44	0.04	0.03	0.01	z	z	0.39	0.02	0	0.72	0.71	5.5	0.42	0.44	2.96	0.06	3.88	9.38	z
202425	Academic year	Six half terms	National	E92000001	England	Total	Not declared	7330790	2584320740	175159650	115692140	59467520	6.78	4.48	2.3	1329900	18.14	83239020	8289800	2454690	1145440	252320	z	z	3720080	409000	97440	5850670	10233830	115692290	12511170	5751470	40204330	1000860	59467830	175160120	z	8849180	87720	3.22	0.32	0.09	0.04	0.01	z	z	0.14	0.02	0	0.23	0.4	4.48	0.48	0.22	1.56	0.04	2.3	6.78	z
202425	Academic year	Six half terms	National	E92000001	England	Total	Special guardianship order	21790	7680890	645040	412410	232630	8.4	5.37	3.03	4910	22.53	238600	34810	1310	2760	190	z	z	31210	1170	340	48090	53930	412410	38500	22010	168500	3620	232630	645040	z	30600	660	3.11	0.45	0.02	0.04	0	z	z	0.41	0.02	0	0.63	0.7	5.37	0.5	0.29	2.19	0.05	3.03	8.4	z
202425	Academic year	Six half terms	National	E92000001	England	Total	Total	7388150	2604665900	176654310	116706680	59947630	6.78	4.48	2.3	1340440	18.14	83817800	8389840	2458370	1153450	252790	z	z	3782590	412640	98300	5964060	10376980	116706830	12594920	5798700	40545120	1009210	59947950	176654780	z	8919450	89190	3.22	0.32	0.09	0.04	0.01	z	z	0.15	0.02	0	0.23	0.4	4.48	0.48	0.22	1.56	0.04	2.3	6.78	z

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Variables in this data set

Table showing first 5 of 52 variables

Variable name	Variable description
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
enrolments_pa_10_exact_percent	Percentage of persistent absentees
plaa	Post looked after arrangement - Filter by characteristic

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Footnotes

1. Total includes state-funded primary, state-funded secondary and special schools.
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. PLAA numbers are rounded and suppressed in line with Children Looked After statistics. National numbers rounded to nearest 10, 1 to 5 suppressed to preserve confidentiality (c), zero shown as zero.
4. Data is not available for all children who have post looked after arrangements.  The information is taken from the school census, where children are reported as having previously left care due to adoption, a special guardianship order (SGO) or a child arrangements order (CAO) only if their parents/carers have declared this information to the school. Therefore, the data is reliant on self-declaration from parents and is a partial rather than a full count.

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Contact us

If you have a specific enquiry about Absence for pupils with post looked after arrangements (PLAA) statistics and data:

Attendance and exclusions statistics team

Email: schools.statistics@education.gov.uk
Contact name: Attendance and exclusions statistics team

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