Data set from Pupil absence in schools in England

Absence rates by pupil characteristics - autumn term

Latest data

Published 16 May 2024

Last updated 8 August 2024

Absence information by characteristics for all enrolments in state-funded primary, secondary and special schools including information on overall absence, persistent absence and reason for absence for pupils aged 5-15. Characteristics included are sex, year group, free school meal eligibility, SEN provision, SEN type of need, ethnicity and language.

---

On this page

Data set details

• Theme: Pupils and schools
• Publication: Pupil absence in schools in England
• Release: Autumn term 2023/24
• Geographic levels: Local authority, National, Regional
• Indicators:
  • Authorised absence rate
  • Authorised absence rate exact
  • Number of authorised absence sessions
• Filters:
  • Characteristic
  • School type
• Time period: 2019/20 Autumn term to 2023/24 Autumn term

---

Data set preview

Table showing first 5 rows, from underlying data

time_period	time_identifier	geographic_level	country_code	country_name	region_code	region_name	old_la_code	new_la_code	la_name	school_type	characteristic	characteristic_breakdown	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_authorised_illness	sess_authorised_appointments	sess_authorised_religious	sess_authorised_study	sess_authorised_traveller	sess_authorised_holiday	sess_authorised_ext_holiday	sess_authorised_excluded	sess_authorised_other	sess_authorised_totalreasons	sess_unauthorised_holiday	sess_unauthorised_late	sess_unauthorised_other	sess_unauthorised_noyet	sess_unauthorised_totalreasons	sess_overall_totalreasons	sess_x_covid	sess_y_exceptional	sess_x_covid_rate
202324	Autumn term	Local authority	E92000001	England	E13000002	Outer London	310	E09000015	Harrow	Total	SEN primary need	Physical disability	89	12266	1128	1015	113	9.19615	8.27491	0.92125	28	31.46067	2	2.24719	3765	808	733	75	21.46082	19.46879	1.99203	612	247	10	0	0	8	0	0	138	1015	64	9	26	14	113	1128	z	16	z
202324	Autumn term	Local authority	E92000001	England	E13000002	Outer London	310	E09000015	Harrow	State-funded secondary	SEN primary need	Severe learning difficulty	4	512	73	70	3	14.25781	13.67188	0.58594	2	50	0	0	280	71	68	3	25.35714	24.28571	1.07143	22	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	46	70	0	0	3	0	3	73	z	0	z
202324	Autumn term	Local authority	E92000001	England	E13000002	Outer London	310	E09000015	Harrow	State-funded primary	SEN primary need	Specific learning difficulty	119	16922	1180	977	203	6.97317	5.77355	1.19962	21	17.64706	1	0.84034	2987	638	512	126	21.35922	17.14094	4.21828	752	51	16	0	0	0	0	0	158	977	80	15	91	17	203	1180	z	0	z
202324	Autumn term	Local authority	E92000001	England	E13000002	Outer London	310	E09000015	Harrow	Total	SEN primary need	Speech language and communications needs	1452	202051	12464	10164	2300	6.16874	5.03041	1.13833	263	18.11295	9	0.61983	35842	6725	5186	1539	18.7629	14.46906	4.29385	7985	831	140	0	0	65	0	86	1057	10164	657	141	1361	141	2300	12464	z	163	z
202324	Autumn term	Local authority	E92000001	England	E13000002	Outer London	310	E09000015	Harrow	State-funded secondary	SEN primary need	Visual impairment	23	3110	314	231	83	10.09646	7.42765	2.66881	6	26.08696	1	4.34783	822	197	121	76	23.96594	14.72019	9.24574	198	23	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	231	0	3	77	3	83	314	z	6	z

---

Variables in this data set

Table showing first 5 of 40 variables

Variable name	Variable description
characteristic_breakdown	Characteristic - Filter by pupil characteristic
enrolments	Number of pupil enrolments
enrolments_pa_10_exact	Number of persistent absentees (10% missed)
enrolments_pa_10_exact_percent	Percentage of persistent absentees (10% missed)
enrolments_pa_50_exact	Number of persistent absentees (50% missed)

---

Footnotes

1. Total includes state-funded primary, secondary and special schools. Data for special schools is available from 2016/17 to present.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.

---

Using this data

• Download the underlying data as a compressed ZIP file

• View or create your own tables

  View tables that we have built for you, or create your own tables from open data using our table tool

---