Pupil absence in schools in England: autumn and spring terms
Pupil absence, including overall, authorised and unauthorised absence and persistent absence by reason and pupil characteristics for the autumn and spring terms
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Background information
This release looks at pupil absence in the autumn and spring terms 2021/22, including by reason and school types.
Data is given on pupil absences as well as where a pupil was recorded as not attending in circumstances relating to coronavirus (Code X). Where a pupil was not attending in these circumstances, schools were expected to provide immediate access to remote education. For the autumn and spring terms 2021/22, this category should mostly have been used to record where a pupil was absent from school with symptoms of COVID-19 whilst awaiting the results of a test. This differs to previous years when this code was also used where pupils were advised to shield, were quarantining after returning from abroad, were in class bubbles advised to isolate and where pupils were not expected to attend in person during periods of national restrictions (during which, schools were expected to provide remote education). Throughout the pandemic, schools were advised to record pupils with a confirmed case of COVID-19 as absent due to illness (Code I).
School level data has been collected via the Department's education settings survey on pupil attendance throughout the pandemic. However, this release is derived from the pupil level school census from which further analysis, such as persistent absence, can be produced. The categories of absence in this release match those used on school registers and differ to those used in the education settings survey.
Headline facts and figures
This publication uses several terms to understand attendance in school.
Absence - refers to children who are absent for authorised and unauthorised reasons, this includes children who are absent with a positive COVID case – but does not include children who are isolating but have not had a confirmed positive case, for example as a contact.
Not attending in circumstances relating to COVID refers to children who are not attending school due to public health guidelines. It does not include absence due to positive COVID cases. For the autumn and spring terms 2021/22, this should mostly have been used to record where a pupil was absent from school with symptoms of COVID-19 whilst awaiting the results of a test or as a contact. In previous terms this code was also used where pupils were advised to shield, were quarantining after returning from abroad, or were in class bubbles advised to isolate. In these circumstances schools are expected to provide remote education.
Total number of children out of school refers to the sum of absent children and those not attending in circumstances relating to COVID – together this figure shows the total number of children not in school in person for any reason
Persistent absence - pupils are identified as a persistent absentee if they miss 10% or more of their possible sessions. This includes absence with a positive COVID case. 10% of sessions translates to around 7 days of absence across the autumn term.
Absence rates have increased from the autumn term to the spring term
- The absence rate across autumn and spring terms combined was 7.4%. In spring term 2021/22, the absence rate was 7.9%, an increase from 6.7% in autumn term 2021, having been consistently around 5% in recent years. The majority of the increase compared to previous years was due to illness, accounting for 5.0% of possible sessions in autumn and spring term 2021/22 combined. Illness includes where positive COVID-19 cases were reported.
- 22.3% of pupils were persistently absent across the combined autumn and spring term 2021/22 (i.e. missed 10% or more sessions). Again, this has been driven by illness (including positive COVID cases).
Not attending due to COVID circumstances decreased, the lowest level since the pandemic began
- Not attending due to COVID circumstances decreased to 1.3% across the two term period. In spring term this was 1.0%, a decrease from 1.6% in autumn 2021. This was 21.3% for the 2020/21 academic year in full. This large decrease from the previous year is driven by the change in requirements for close contacts to isolate. In previous terms this code was used where pupils were advised to shield, were quarantining after returning from abroad, or were in class bubbles advised to isolate. In these circumstances schools are expected to provide remote education. For the autumn and spring terms 2021/22, this category should mostly have been used to record where a pupil was absent from school with symptoms of COVID-19 whilst awaiting the results of a test. Where a pupil was not attending in these circumstances, schools were expected to provide immediate access to remote education.
Combined rate of absence and not attending due to COVID circumstances has increased
- When combining absence with not attending due to COVID circumstances, we see a combined rate of 8.7% across the two term period. In spring term, this combined rate was 8.9%, an increase from 8.5% in autumn 2021 and is driven by the increase in absence. In spring 2021, this combined rate was 60.8%, reflecting the period of lockdown from 4 January 2021 where only children of critical workers and vulnerable children could attend school.
Absence
The absence rate is the total number of sessions missed due to absence for all pupils as a percentage of the total number of possible sessions for all pupils. One session is equal to half a day.
From 2020/21, not attending in circumstances related to coronavirus (COVID-19) has not been counted as an absence, but has been included as a possible session in the calculation of absence rates. This has included where pupils were self-isolating and shielding, including when a class or bubble has been required to stay at home. During these sessions, pupils were expected to not attend or were prohibited from attending and so they are treated separately and not counted within the standard absence rates within this publication.
For the autumn and spring terms 2021/22, this category should mostly have been used to record where a pupil was absent from school with symptoms of COVID-19 whilst awaiting the results of a test.
Overall absence increased, driven by an increase in illness absence (including positive COVID cases)
The overall absence rate across the autumn and spring terms 2021/22 combined was 7.4%. This is higher than the same period in previous years, typically around 4-5%. The increase is mostly driven by a large increase in illness absence and includes absence for positive coronavirus cases. UK Health Security Agency data (opens in new tab) shows large increases in weekly COVID-19 case rates for year groups including children of school age over this period when compared to previous years. An increase is also seen in unauthorised absence.
The absence rate increased within the academic year, from autumn 2021 to spring 2022
The absence rate in spring term 2022 alone was 7.9%, an increase from 6.9% in autumn 2021. Prior to the pandemic, this rate was typically around 5%, and a general increase between autumn and spring terms is expected. The increase is mostly driven by illness absence
The increase in absence was largely driven by a large increase in illness absence (including positive COVID cases), which increased from 4.4% in autumn 2021 to 5.0% in spring 2022. Unauthorised other reasons also increased from 1.2% to 1.4%.
Overall, authorised absence rate increased from 5.3% to 6.1% while unauthorised absence increased from 1.6% to 1.9%.
Absence increased across all school types
Absence rates follow a similar pattern across school types. Overall absence
- increased in primary schools from 5.7% in Autumn 2021 to 6.7% in Spring 2022
- increased in secondary schools from 8.2% to 9.2%
- increased in special schools from 12.7% to 13.6%
The increases seen in authorised and unauthorised absence was also seen across each school type.
Amount of absence and non-attendance
A pupil enrolment is identified as a persistent absentee if they miss 10% or more of their possible sessions. Sessions where a pupil was not attending in circumstances related to coronavirus (COVID-19) (for example, isolating whilst waiting for a test result or as a close contact but not including positive COVID cases) are not counted as an absence but do count towards possible sessions as during these sessions these pupils could not attend school .
1.6m pupils were persistently absent across the autumn and spring term combined
These figures include absence due to illness (including positive COVID cases).
Over the autumn and spring term combined, the persistent absence rate is 22.3%. This is an increase from around 10-11% in previous years, including pre-pandemic. The spring term 2020/21 was affected by a period of national restrictions where attendance was prioritised for vulnerable and key worker children during which all other pupils would be recorded as not attending due to COVID circumstances. As such, caution should be taken with comparisons across years. No data is available for the autumn and spring term 2019/20 combined.
The persistent absence rate for autumn term alone was 23.5%, and for spring term 2022 was 27.2%.
The increase compared to previous years, is driven by increases in illness absence (including positive COVID cases), with 11.0% of pupils missing 10% or more sessions due to illness absence alone.
Further, 110,000 pupils missed 50% or more sessions across the autumn and spring terms (1.5% of all pupils). This compares to 57,000 pre-pandemic (2018/19).
The rate of persistent absence varies across school types
These figures include absence due to illness (including positive COVID cases).
The rate of persistent absentees missing 10% or more differs across all school types -
- in primary schools - 18.2% in autumn and spring terms 2021/22
- in secondary schools - 26.7% in autumn and spring terms 2021/22
- in special schools - 40.2% in autumn and spring terms 2021/22
while the rate of pupils missing 50% or more was
- in primary schools - 0.6% in autumn and spring terms 2021/22
- in secondary schools - 2.5% in autumn and spring terms 2021/22
- in special schools - 5.6% in autumn and spring terms 2021/22
Absence in pupil referral units
Absence rates in pupil referral units have increased
These figures include absence due to illness (including positive COVID cases).
Overall absence in pupil referral units was 37.4% across the autumn and spring terms combined. This is an increase from 32.8% in the previous year. This is driven by an increase in unauthorised absence from the previous year.
78.3% of enrolments missed 10% or more sessions, an increase from 71.6% over the same period in 2020/21, with X% of enrolments missing 50% or more possible sessions.
The spring term 2020/21 was affected by a period of national restrictions where attendance was prioritised for vulnerable and key worker children during which all other pupils would be recorded as not attending due to COVID circumstances. As such, caution should be taken with comparisons across years. No data is available for the autumn and spring term 2019/20 combined.
Absence by pupil characteristics
From 2020/21, not attending in circumstances related to coronavirus (COVID-19) has not been counted as an absence, but has been included as a possible session in the calculation of absence rates. This has included where pupils were self-isolating and shielding, including when a class or bubble has been required to stay at home. During these sessions, pupils were expected to not attend or were prohibited from attending and so they are treated separately and not counted within the standard absence rates within this publication.
For the autumn term 2021, this category should mostly have been used to record where a pupil was absent from school with symptoms of COVID-19 whilst awaiting the results of a test. This category does include absence due to positive COVID cases.
Across all pupils, overall absence increased, driven by an increase in illness absence (including positive COVID cases). This section looks at how that rate varies across different groups of pupils.
For comparison, the overall absence rate in spring term 2022 was 7.9%, in autumn term 2021 was 6.7% and across both terms combined was 7.4%. The persistent absence rate across autumn and spring terms 2021/22 was 22.3%.
The spring term 2020/21 was affected by a period of national restrictions where attendance was prioritised for vulnerable and key worker children during which all other pupils would be recorded as not attending due to COVID circumstances. As such, caution should be taken with comparisons across years. No data is available for the autumn and spring term 2019/20 combined.
Free school meals (FSM)
The overall absence rate for pupils who are eligible for free school meals was 10.4% across autumn and spring terms 2021/22, up from 7.2% in the same period in the previous year. This compares to 6.4% for those pupils who were not eligible for free school meals.
Further to sessions recorded as absence, for pupils who were eligible for free school meals, 1.6% of sessions were recorded as not attending due to COVID circumstances compared to 1.3% of sessions for pupils who were not eligible.
35.4% of pupils who were eligible for free school meals were persistently absent across the autumn and spring terms 2021/22 combined, compared to 17.9% of pupils who were not eligible.
Special educational needs (SEN)
The overall absence rate for pupils with an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP) was 12.1% in autumn and spring terms 2021/22. This compares to 9.7% for pupils with SEN support and 6.8% with no identified SEN.
36.6% of pupils with an EHCP were persistently absent in this period, compared to 31.2% for pupils with SEN support and 19.9% for pupils with no identified SEN.
Year groups
Typically absence rates increase as age increases. The highest absence rates were in year 11 at 10.2% and year 10 at 10.0%, compared to 7.9% for all pupils. This is a similar pattern to previous years.
Persistent absence ranged from 16.8% in year 3, to 30.3% in year 11 in autumn 2021.
As with other groups, these increases from previous years are driven by increases in illness absence, including positive COVID cases.
Ethnic groups
Traveller of Irish Heritage and Gypsy/Roma pupils had the highest overall absence rates at 20.8% and 16.6% in autumn and spring term 2021/22. Chinese and Black African pupils had the lowest rates at 3.8% and 4.1%. This follows similar trends to previous years. Similar patterns are shown in persistent absence rates.
Gender
The overall absence rate for boys was 7.3% and for girls was 7.4%, while persistent absence was 22.6% for girls and 22.1% for boys respectively.
Geographical variations
Absence rates vary across the country, from 6.3% in Inner London to 8.0% in the South West. This includes absence due to illness (including positive COVID cases).
Persistent absence also varies across regions from 18.7% in Inner London to 24.7% in the South West. This includes absence due to illness (including positive COVID cases).
The amount of sessions recorded as not attending due to COVID circumstances varies from 1.1% in the North East to 1.6% in the South East.
The map below displays absence rates by local authority.
Contact us
If you have a specific enquiry about Pupil absence in schools in England: autumn and spring terms statistics and data:
School census statistics team
Email: schools.statistics@education.gov.ukContact name: Sean Gibson
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