Autumn term 2022/23

Pupil absence in schools in England

Pupil absence, including overall, authorised and unauthorised absence and persistent absence by reason and pupil characteristics for the full academic year.

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• Produced by: Department for Education
• Published: 20 July 2023
• Last updated: 20 July 2023

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

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Featured tables

Featured tables are pre-prepared tables created from a statistical release's data sets. They provide statistics that are regularly requested by some users (such as local councils, regional government or government policy teams) and can be adapted to switch between different categories (such as different geographies, time periods or characteristics where available).

3 featured tables

• Termly absence rates by school type, Autumn 2018/19 to Autumn 2022/23

  Table showing rates of overall absence, authorised and unauthorised absence and sessions recorded as not attending due to COVID circumstances or each term, from Autumn 2018/19 to Autumn 2022/23

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• Absence rates by local authority, autumn term 2020/21 to 2022/23

  Includes overall and persistent absence rates by local authority, autumn term 2020/21 to 2022/23

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• Absence rates by school type

  Includes overall absence rate, authorised and unauthorised absence rates, and rate of not attending due to COVID circumstances, by school type, autumn 2018/19 to autumn 2022/23

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Data sets: download or create tables

Data sets present comprehensive open data from which users can create their own tables using the EES table tool or download a zipped CSV file.

20 data sets available for download

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• Absence rates by geographic level - autumn term

  Local authority, National, Regional

  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. National, Regional and Local Authority data from 2006/07. School data is included from 2016/17. Primary and secondary only before 2016/17.

  • Number of rows: 9,371
  • Indicators:
    • Authorised absence rate
    • Authorised holiday rate
    • Authorised other rate
  • Filters:
    • School type
  • Time period: 2006/07 Autumn term to 2022/23 Autumn term

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• Absence rates - school level - autumn term

  School

  Absence information for autumn 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. Includes school level data.

  • Number of rows: 148,175
  • Indicators:
    • Authorised absence rate
    • Authorised holiday rate
    • Authorised other rate
  • Filters:
    • School type
  • Time period: 2016/17 Autumn term to 2022/23 Autumn term

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• Absence rates by pupil characteristic - autumn term

  Local authority, National, Regional

  Absence information by characteristics 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. Characteristics included are gender, year group, free school meal eligibility, SEN provision, SEN type of need, ethnicity and language. National, regional and local authority data from autumn 2019 to autumn 2022

  • Number of rows: 161,478
  • Indicators:
    • Authorised absence rate
    • Authorised absence rate exact
    • Number of authorised absence sessions
  • Filters:
    • Characteristic
    • School type
  • Time period: 2019/20 Autumn term to 2022/23 Autumn term

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• Absence rates by geographic level - termly

  Local authority, National, Regional

  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.

  • Number of rows: 16,184
  • Indicators:
    • Authorised absence rate
    • Authorised holiday rate
    • Authorised other rate
  • Filters:
    • School type
  • Time period: 2012/13 Autumn term to 2022/23 Autumn term

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• Enrolments with one or more session of absence, including by reason for absence - autumn term

  Local authority, National, Regional

  The number of enrolments with one or more session of absence, including by reason for absence. National, Regional and Local Authority data from 2006/07. School data from 2016/17. Primary and secondary only before 2016/17.

  • Number of rows: 9,371
  • 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: 2006/07 Autumn term to 2022/23 Autumn term

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• Enrolments with one or more session of absence, including by reason for absence - school level - autumn term

  School

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

  • Number of rows: 148,175
  • 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 term to 2022/23 Autumn term

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• Absence rates as a percentage of possible sessions by band - autumn term

  National

  The number of pupil enrolments by their absence in the term as a percentage of possible sessions. Covers overall absence, authorised absence and unauthorised absence. Data by one percent bands. Primary and secondary only before 2016/17.

  • Number of rows: 5,916
  • 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: 2006/07 Autumn term to 2022/23 Autumn term

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• Absence rates for four year olds - autumn term

  Local authority, National, Regional

  Overall absence for all enrolments in state-funded primary, secondary and special schools for pupils aged 4. National, Regional and Local Authority data from 2012/13. Primary and secondary only before 2016/17. Collected from 2012/13

  • Number of rows: 6,631
  • Indicators:
    • Number of overall absence sessions
    • Number of pupil enrolments
    • Number of schools
  • Filters:
    • School type
  • Time period: 2012/13 Autumn term to 2022/23 Autumn term

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• Absence rates for four year olds - school level - autumn term

  School

  Overall absence for all enrolments in state-funded primary, secondary and special schools for pupils aged 4. School data from 2016/17.

  • Number of rows: 114,731
  • Indicators:
    • Number of overall absence sessions
    • Number of pupil enrolments
    • Number of schools
  • Filters:
    • School type
  • Time period: 2016/17 Autumn term to 2022/23 Autumn term

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• Absence rates in pupil referral units (PRUs) - autumn term

  Local authority, National, Regional

  Absence information for pupil referral units (including alternative provision academies and free schools). Data has been collected from 2013/14.

  • Number of rows: 1,523
  • Indicators:
    • Authorised absence rate
    • Number of authorised absence sessions
    • Number of authorised holiday sessions
  • Time period: 2013/14 Autumn term to 2022/23 Autumn term

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• Absence rates in pupil referral units (PRUs) - school level - autumn term

  School

  Absence information for pupil referral units (including alternative provision academies and free schools) at school level. Data has been collected from 2013/14.

  • Number of rows: 3,414
  • Indicators:
    • Authorised absence rate
    • Number of authorised absence sessions
    • Number of authorised holiday sessions
  • Time period: 2013/14 Autumn term to 2022/23 Autumn term

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• Absence rates by geographic level - full academic years

  Local authority, National, Regional

  Absence information for full academic years 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: 9,690
  • Indicators:
    • Authorised absence rate
    • Authorised absence rate (persistent absentees only)
    • Authorised holiday rate
  • Filters:
    • School type
  • Time period: 2006/07 to 2021/22

  Data set information page
  Create table

• Absence rates - school level - full academic years

  School

  Absence information for full academic years 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: 169,736
  • Indicators:
    • Authorised absence rate
    • Authorised absence rate (persistent absentees only)
    • Authorised holiday rate
  • Filters:
    • School type
  • Time period: 2013/14 to 2021/22

  Data set information page
  Create table

• Enrolments with one or more session of absence, including by reason for absence - full academic years

  Local authority, National, Regional

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

  • Number of rows: 5,819
  • 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: 2012/13 to 2021/22

  Data set information page
  Create table

• Enrolments with one or more session of absence, including by reason for absence - school level - full academic years

  School

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

  • Number of rows: 169,736
  • 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: 2013/14 to 2021/22

  Data set information page
  Create table

• Absence rates as a percentage of possible sessions by band - full academic years

  National

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

  • Number of rows: 3,264
  • 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: 2013/14 to 2021/22

  Data set information page
  Create table

• Absence rates in pupil referral units (PRUs) - full academic years

  Local authority, National, Regional

  Absence rates for pupil referral units

  • Number of rows: 1,222
  • Indicators:
    • Authorised absence rate
    • Number of authorised absence sessions
    • Number of authorised holiday sessions
  • Time period: 2013/14 to 2021/22

  Data set information page
  Create table

• Absence rates in pupil referral units (PRUs) - school level - full academic years

  School

  Absence rates for pupil referral units. Includes school level data.

  • Number of rows: 2,796
  • Indicators:
    • Authorised absence rate
    • Number of authorised absence sessions
    • Number of authorised holiday sessions
  • Time period: 2013/14 to 2021/22

  Data set information page
  Create table

• Absence rates by pupil characteristic - full academic years

  Local authority, National, Regional

  Absence information for the full academic year, by pupil characteristics including SEN, FSM, language, year group, gender and ethnicity for England.

  • Number of rows: 174,468
  • Indicators:
    • Authorised absence rate
    • Authorised absence rate exact
    • Number of authorised absence sessions
  • Filters:
    • Characteristic
    • School type
  • Time period: 2017/18 to 2021/22

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• Persistent absence only (including code x) since Autumn 2016 - autumn term

  National

  National persistent absence figures in Autumn terms from 2016/17 to 2022/23. Includes persistent absence and additional non-attendance in circumstances relating to coronavirus (attendance code X).

  • Number of rows: 7
  • Indicators:
    • Additional as a result of Code X
    • Including Code X
    • Persistent absence rate
  • Time period: 2016/17 Autumn term to 2022/23 Autumn term

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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’ 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
• special schools

It includes information on:

• reasons for absence
• persistent absentees
• separate absence information for pupil referral units (including alternative provision academies and free schools)

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

File formats and conventions

Rounding and Suppression

This dataset has not had suppression applied. Rates are presented to one decimal place in the report but are unrounded in the underlying data files

Conventions

The following convention is used throughout the underlying data. 

‘x’  Not available.

‘z’  Not applicable

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Contact us

If you have a specific enquiry about Pupil absence in schools in England statistics and data:

Attendance and exclusions statistics team

Email: schools.statistics@education.gov.uk
Contact name: Attendance and exclusions statistics team

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If you have a media enquiry:

Telephone: 020 7783 8300

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