Access the Pupil attendance and absence in schools in England: data dashboard (opens in a new tab) here.
Data for the academic year 2024/25 relates to the period from 09 September 2024 to 06 December 2024. Data from across the year to date is available in the pupil attendance dashboard (opens in a new tab) and the data catalogue on this page (see “Explore data and files”).
Overall absence across the 2024/25 academic year to date was 6.2%. Absence in the week commencing 21 October, the week immediately prior to half term for most schools, was 7.0%, rising from 4.7% at the beginning of the term. The absence rate decreased to 6.0% in the week commencing 04 November, the week immediately after half term for most schools. It then increased to 7.3% in the most recent week, commencing 02 December, which is the highest absence rate of autumn term to date. The increase in absence between half-term and the end of the Autumn term is also in line with patterns seen during 2023/24.
The majority of the change in absence has been driven by illness absence. In the most recent week, commencing 02 December, illness absence was the highest it has been this term at 4.1%. Unauthorised absence has also seen changes over the year, from 1.9% in the week commencing 09 September to 2.4% in the week commencing 21 October (immediately prior to half term). The increase in absence prior to half term is in line with weekly patterns seen during the 2023/24 academic year. It then decreased to 1.8% in the week commencing 11 November but has been increasing since, at 2.1% in the most recent week, commencing 02 December.
Users should be aware of the following:
- Response rate - Of schools participating in the School Census, 98% provided information on the latest full day of data (06 December 2024). Therefore national figures are estimates. Across school types this was: 98% of state-funded primary schools, 97% of state-funded secondary schools and 96% of state-funded special schools. The response rate may vary at certain points of the year due to different term dates. It also became mandatory for schools to share attendance data with the DfE from the start of the 2024/25 academic year, meaning the number of schools reporting may change over time.
- Estimates for non-response - In recognition that response rates are not equal across school types and, therefore, not representative of the total school population, the total rates for all schools have been weighted based on the Spring 2024 school census.
- Reporting lag - Schools update their registers continually and attendance codes change, resulting in absence rates for particular days to decrease over time. Analysis of data from the Summer 2022 term suggests that the absence rate could decrease around 1 percentage point before settling down. Historical figures from week 37 onwards will be recalculated in each publication.
From the start of the 2024/25 academic year, it became mandatory for schools to share attendance data (opens in a new tab) with the DfE. If you are a school that is not already sharing your daily attendance data, you need to approve this in your Wonde portal. This will also give you, your local authority and your multi-academy trust (if applicable) access to daily attendance reports (opens in a new tab) to help identify pupils needing attendance support earlier.