Data set from Pupil absence in schools in England

Absence as a percentage of possible sessions by band

Latest data

Published 20 March 2025

Last updated 20 March 2025

The number of pupil enrolments by overall, authorised and unauthorised absence percentage point bands.

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On this page

Data set details

• Theme: Pupils and schools
• Publication: Pupil absence in schools in England
• Release: Academic year 2023/24
• Geographic levels: National
• Indicators:
  • Number of pupil enrolments in that per cent band for unauthorised absence
  • Number of pupil enrolments in that per cent band for authorised absence
  • Number of pupil enrolments in that per cent band for COVID non-attendance
• Filters:
  • Absence percentage band
  • School type
• Time period: 2013/14 to 2023/24

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Data set preview

Table showing first 5 rows, from underlying data

time_identifier	year_breakdown	time_period	geographic_level	country_code	country_name	education_phase	percent_bands	enrolments_overall	enrolments_overall_percent	enrolments_authorised	enrolments_authorised_percent	enrolments_unauthorised	enrolments_unauthorised_percent	enrolments_sess_x_covid	enrolments_sess_x_covid_percent	enrolments_illness	enrolments_illness_percent
Academic year	Six half terms	202324	National	E92000001	England	Total	Total	7453730	100	7453730	100	7453730	100	0	0	7453730	100
Academic year	Six half terms	202324	National	E92000001	England	Total	0	377616	5.06613	608683	8.16615	3393038	45.52134	0	0	1113955	14.9449
Academic year	Six half terms	202324	National	E92000001	England	Total	0.01 - 0.99	538360	7.22269	768320	10.30786	1224672	16.43032	0	0	861873	11.563
Academic year	Six half terms	202324	National	E92000001	England	Total	1.00 - 1.99	921992	12.36954	1223672	16.41691	807224	10.8298	0	0	1355942	18.1915
Academic year	Six half terms	202324	National	E92000001	England	Total	2.00 - 2.99	866614	11.62658	1046689	14.04249	528061	7.08452	0	0	1062651	14.2566

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Variables in this data set

Table showing first 5 of 12 variables

Variable name	Variable description
education_phase	School type - Filter by school type
enrolments_authorised	Number of pupil enrolments in that per cent band for authorised absence
enrolments_authorised_percent	Percentage of all pupil enrolments in that pc band for authorised absence
enrolments_illness	Number of pupil enrolments in that per cent band for illness absence
enrolments_illness_percent	Percentage of all pupil enrolmentsin that per cent band for illness absence

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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.

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Using this data

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Download this data using code

Access this data using common programming languages using the URL below.

Example code

Python

import pandas as pd

pd.read_csv("https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-catalogue/data-set/f7522531-7460-48f6-8580-24450f75cb49/csv")

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