Data set from Pupil absence in schools in England

Absence by geographic level - termly

Latest data

Published 20 March 2025

Last updated 20 March 2025

Termly absence information 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.

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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 holiday rate
  • Authorised other rate
• Filters:
  • School type
• Time period: 2018/19 Autumn term to 2023/24 Summer term

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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	education_phase	sess_possible	sess_overall	sess_authorised	sess_unauthorised	enrolments_pa_10_exact	enrolments_pa_10_exact_percent	enrolments_pa_50_exact	enrolments_pa_50_exact_percent	enrolments	sess_overall_percent	sess_authorised_percent	sess_unauthorised_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_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_ext_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
202324	Autumn term	National	E92000001	England						Total	992092061	66345048	44790253	21554795	1407783	19.43522042	142480	1.967014949	7243463	6.68739	4.51473	2.17266	34475196	2895366	76188	30313	78855	475047	z	1455959	4854307	44341231	4705613	1579538	14647382	463969	21396502	65737733	0	3201501	3.475	0.29184	0.00768	0.00306	0.00795	0.04788	0	0.14676	0.4893	4.46947	0.47431	0.15921	1.47641	0.04677	2.15671	6.62617	0
202324	Autumn term	National	E92000001	England						State-funded primary	529779376	27818872	20066928	7751944	589938	15.41034754	31102	0.812445764	3828194	5.25103	3.78779	1.46324	16130424	1227440	44380	674	59048	304371	z	138314	1749044	19653695	3059037	729013	3654251	165018	7607319	27261014	0	692331	3.04474	0.23169	0.00838	0.00013	0.01115	0.05745	0	0.02611	0.33015	3.70979	0.57742	0.13761	0.68977	0.03115	1.43594	5.14573	0
202324	Autumn term	National	E92000001	England						State-funded secondary	443690831	36159603	22930452	13229151	768706	23.43979599	103021	3.141371634	3279491	8.14973	5.16811	2.98161	17326556	1494289	30782	29545	18643	114616	z	1285062	2607271	22906764	1582524	814732	10539794	283539	13220589	36127353	0	2365580	3.9051	0.33679	0.00694	0.00666	0.0042	0.02583	0	0.28963	0.58763	5.16278	0.35667	0.18363	2.37548	0.0639	2.97968	8.14246	0
202324	Autumn term	National	E92000001	England						Special	18621854	2366573	1792873	573700	49139	36.19069363	8357	6.15489991	135778	12.70858	9.62779	3.08079	1018216	173637	1026	94	1164	56060	z	32583	497992	1780772	64052	35793	453337	15412	568594	2349366	0	143590	5.46786	0.93244	0.00551	0.0005	0.00625	0.30104	0	0.17497	2.67423	9.56281	0.34396	0.19221	2.43444	0.08276	3.05337	12.61618	0
202324	Spring term	National	E92000001	England						Total	758587400	54964396	37516529	17447867	1548329	21.52775065	157040	2.183462275	7192247	7.24562	4.94558	2.30005	29078265	2397673	30881	15042	48857	253474	z	1253144	4080660	37157996	2282197	1481399	13244944	340880	17349420	54507416	0	1319815	3.83321	0.31607	0.00407	0.00198	0.00644	0.03341	0	0.16519	0.53793	4.89831	0.30085	0.19528	1.746	0.04494	2.28707	7.18538	0

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Variables in this data set

Table showing first 5 of 48 variables

Variable name	Variable description
education_phase	School type - Filter by school type - Total includes primary, secondary and special
enrolments	Enrolments
enrolments_pa_10_exact	Number of persistent absentees
enrolments_pa_10_exact_percent	Persistent absence rate
enrolments_pa_50_exact	Number of severe absentees

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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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