Data set from Pupil absence in schools in England

Absence rates by pupil characteristic - full academic years

Latest data

Published 16 May 2024

Last updated 16 May 2024

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: Autumn term 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 2022/23

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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	school_type	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	201718	Local authority	E92000001	England	E12000002	North West	344	E08000015	Wirral	Special	Ethnicity Minor Any other Asian background	2	756	27	27	0	3.57143	3.57143	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	24	1	0	0	0	0	z	0	2	27	0	0	0	0	0	27	0	0	3.174603175	0.132275132	0	0	0	0	0	0.264550265	3.571428571	0	0	0	0	0	3.571428571	0	0
Academic year	Six half terms	201718	Local authority	E92000001	England	E12000002	North West	344	E08000015	Wirral	Total	Ethnicity Minor Any other black background	40	12453	560	425	135	4.49691	3.41283	1.08408	5	12.5	1	2.5	1210	218	115	103	18.01653	9.50413	8.5124	271	33	0	0	0	16	z	9	96	425	14	8	92	21	135	560	0	2	2.176182446	0.264996386	0	0	0	0.128483096	0.072271742	0.770898579	3.412832249	0.112422709	0.064241548	0.738777805	0.168634064	1.084076126	4.496908375	0	0.016060387
Academic year	Six half terms	201718	Local authority	E92000001	England	E12000002	North West	344	E08000015	Wirral	State-funded secondary	Ethnicity Minor Any other Mixed background	179	62742	3609	2749	860	5.75213	4.38144	1.37069	29	16.20112	0	0	9717	1927	1272	655	19.83122	13.09046	6.74076	2176	238	6	30	0	52	z	55	192	2749	100	23	555	182	860	3609	0	36	3.468171241	0.379331229	0.009562972	0.047814861	0	0.082879092	0.087660578	0.306015109	4.381435083	0.15938287	0.03665806	0.884574926	0.290076823	1.370692678	5.752127761	0	0.057377833
Academic year	Six half terms	201718	Local authority	E92000001	England	E12000002	North West	344	E08000015	Wirral	Special	Ethnicity Minor Bangladeshi	4	1510	384	220	164	25.43046	14.56954	10.86093	3	75	1	25	1134	366	204	162	32.27513	17.98942	14.28571	170	34	6	0	0	0	z	0	10	220	0	0	162	2	164	384	0	4	11.25827815	2.251655629	0.397350993	0	0	0	0	0.662251656	14.56953642	0	0	10.72847682	0.132450331	10.86092715	25.43046358	0	0.264900662
Academic year	Six half terms	201718	Local authority	E92000001	England	E12000002	North West	344	E08000015	Wirral	State-funded secondary	Ethnicity Minor Black African	48	16382	420	364	56	2.56379	2.22195	0.34184	3	6.25	1	2.08333	550	105	85	20	19.09091	15.45455	3.63636	202	32	12	0	0	22	z	32	64	364	28	5	8	15	56	420	0	10	1.233060676	0.195336345	0.073251129	0	0	0.134293737	0.195336345	0.39067269	2.221950922	0.170919302	0.030521304	0.048834086	0.091563912	0.341838603	2.563789525	0	0.061042608

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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
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)
enrolments_pa_50_exact	Number of severely absent pupils (50% 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. 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.

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