Autumn and spring term 2021/22

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

WarningThis publication has been superseded by Pupil absence in schools in England

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1 updatefor Autumn and spring term 2021/22
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8 data sets available for download

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  • Absence rates by geographic level - autumn and spring terms combined

    Local authority, National, Regional

    Absence information for both autumn and spring term combined 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. Includes school level data.

    Number of rows
    110,085
    Indicators
    • Authorised absence rate
    • Authorised holiday rate
    • Authorised other rate
    Filters
    • School type
    Time period
    2016/17 Autumn and spring term to 2021/22 Autumn and spring term
    Data set information page for Absence rates by geographic level - autumn and spring terms combined
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  • Enrolments with one or more session of absence, including by reason for absence - autumn and spring term combined

    Local authority, National, Regional

    The number of enrolments with one or more session of absence, including by reason for absence. Includes school level data.

    Number of rows
    109,271
    Indicators
    • Number of enrolments with at least one absence session due to agreed extended family holiday
    • Number of enrolments with at least one absence session due to agreed family holiday
    • Number of enrolments with at least one absence session due to arriving late
    Filters
    • School type
    Time period
    2016/17 Autumn and spring term to 2021/22 Autumn and spring term
    Data set information page for Enrolments with one or more session of absence, including by reason for absence - autumn and spring term combined
    Create table using Enrolments with one or more session of absence, including by reason for absence - autumn and spring term combined

  • Absence rates as a percentage of possible sessions by band - autumn and spring terms combined

    National

    The number of pupil enrolments by overall, authorised and unauthorised absence percentage point bands. Includes percentage point bands for illness absence and not attending in cricumstances relating to coronavirus (COVID-19)

    Number of rows
    2,040
    Indicators
    • Number of all pupil enrolments that fall into that per cent band for authorised absence
    • Number of all pupil enrolments that fall into that per cent band for illness absence
    • Number of all pupil enrolments that fall into that per cent band for non-attendance due to coronavirus (COVID-19)
    Filters
    • Absence percentage band
    • School type
    Time period
    2016/17 Autumn and spring term to 2021/22 Autumn and spring term
    Data set information page for Absence rates as a percentage of possible sessions by band - autumn and spring terms combined
    Create table using Absence rates as a percentage of possible sessions by band - autumn and spring terms combined

  • Absence rates in pupil referral units (PRUs) - autumn and spring terms combined

    Local authority, National, Regional

    Absence rates for pupil referral units

    Number of rows
    1,221
    Indicators
    • Authorised absence rate
    • Number of authorised absence sessions
    • Number of authorised holiday sessions
    Time period
    2013/14 Autumn and spring term to 2021/22 Autumn and spring term
    Data set information page for Absence rates in pupil referral units (PRUs) - autumn and spring terms combined
    Create table using Absence rates in pupil referral units (PRUs) - autumn and spring terms combined

  • Absence rates for four year olds - autumn and spring terms combined

    Local authority, National, Regional

    Overall absence for all enrolments in state-funded primary, secondary and special schools for pupils aged 4

    Number of rows
    85,001
    Indicators
    • Number of overall absence sessions
    • Number of pupil enrolments
    • Number of schools
    Filters
    • School type
    Time period
    2016/17 Autumn and spring term to 2021/22 Autumn and spring term
    Data set information page for Absence rates for four year olds - autumn and spring terms combined
    Create table using Absence rates for four year olds - autumn and spring terms combined

  • Absence rates by pupil characteristic - autumn and spring combined

    Local authority, National, Regional

    Absence information for autumn and spring term combined by pupil characteristics such as age, gender and ethnicity for England.

    Number of rows
    161,840
    Indicators
    • Authorised absence rate
    • Authorised absence rate exact
    • Number of authorised absence sessions
    Filters
    • Characteristic
    • School type
    Time period
    2016/17 Autumn and spring term to 2021/22 Autumn and spring term
    Data set information page for Absence rates by pupil characteristic - autumn and spring combined
    Create table using Absence rates by pupil characteristic - autumn and spring combined

  • Absence rates by geographic level - termly data

    Local authority, National, Regional

    Termly absence information for autumn and spring term 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.

    Number of rows
    5,811
    Indicators
    • Authorised absence rate
    • Authorised holiday rate
    • Authorised other rate
    Filters
    • School type
    Time period
    2018/19 Autumn term to 2021/22 Spring term
    Data set information page for Absence rates by geographic level - termly data
    Create table using Absence rates by geographic level - termly data

  • Absence rates by pupil characteristic - termly data

    National

    Termly absence information by pupil characteristics including age, gender, year group, free school meals (FSM), special educational needs (SEN) and ethnicity for England.

    Number of rows
    858
    Indicators
    • Authorised absence rate
    • Authorised absence rate exact
    • Number of authorised absence sessions
    Filters
    • Characteristic
    • School type
    Time period
    2020/21 Autumn term to 2021/22 Spring term
    Data set information page for Absence rates by pupil characteristic - termly data
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Data guidance

Description of the data sets included in this release, including information on data sources, coverage, quality and any data conventions used.

Description

This document describes the data included in the ‘Pupil absence in schools in England: 2018/19’ National Statistics release’s underlying data files. This data is released under the terms of the Open Government License (opens in new tab) and is intended to meet at least 3 stars for Open Data (opens in new tab). The methodology should be referenced alongside this data. It provides information on the data sources, their coverage and quality as well as explaining methodology used in producing the data. 

Coverage

This release provides information on the levels of overall, authorised and unauthorised absence in:

  • state-funded primary schools 
  • state-funded secondary schools
  • state-funded special schools
  • pupil referral units

It includes information on: 

  • reasons for absence 
  • persistent absentees 
  • pupil characteristics 
  • absence by term 

The information is based on pupil level absence data collected via the school census.

File formats and conventions

Rounding 

This dataset has not had suppression applied. 

Conventions 

The following convention is used throughout the underlying data. 

‘z’ Not applicable. 

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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.uk
Contact name: Sean Gibson

Press office

If you have a media enquiry:

Telephone: 020 7783 8300

Public enquiries

If you have a general enquiry about the Department for Education (DfE) or education:

Phone: 0370 000 2288

Opening times

Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 5.30pm (closed on bank holidays)

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