Pupil attendance in schools
Pupil attendance and absence data including termly national statistics and fortnightly statistics in development derived from DfE’s regular attendance data
- Release type
- Produced by
- Department for Education
- Published
Background information
These figures are derived from regular data automatically submitted to the Department for Education (DfE) by participating schools. The data is submitted on a daily basis and includes the attendance codes (opens in new tab) for each pupil on their registers during the morning and afternoon sessions.
Figures relate to the attendance of 5 to 15 year old (i.e. compulsory school age) pupils in state-funded primary, secondary and special schools in England.
This release covers the 2024/25 academic year from 09 September to 27 September 2024. National level figures are included in underlying data for the week commencing 02 September 2024. For the full 2023/24 academic year and termly pupil absence data, including by characteristics please see this historical publication.
The figures are published as official statistics in development to give an indicative figure for the absence rate during the 2024/25 academic year. The pupil attendance dashboard (opens in new tab) will be updated fortnightly, providing aggregate metrics on overall absence and reasons for absence estimated at national, regional and local authority level only. Due to the timeliness of the data and that they are based on a subset of schools, figures are estimates that we expect to change as registers are adjusted. They should be viewed as an early indicator for the more detailed but less regular Accredited Official Statistics on pupil absence (which include school level breakdowns). The Accredited Official Statistics are updated termly, with the latest data published in August 2024 relating to the Autumn term 2023/24, including data on characteristics.
From the start of the 2024/25 academic year, it became mandatory for schools to share attendance data (opens in 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 new tab) to help identify pupils needing attendance support earlier.
Headline facts and figures
This release covers the 2024/25 academic year between 09 and 27 September 2024.
The attendance rate (proportion of possible sessions attended) was 94% across all schools in the week commencing 23 September 2024. The absence rate was, therefore, 6% across all schools.
By school type, the absence rates across the week commencing 23 September 2024 were:
- 4.4% in state-funded primary schools (3.1% authorised and 1.3% unauthorised)
- 7.6% in state-funded secondary schools (4.9% authorised and 2.7% unauthorised)
- 12.3% in state-funded special schools (9.2% authorised and 3.1% unauthorised)
Absence was 0.9 percentage points lower across all schools in the week commencing 23 September 2024 than in the equivalent week in the last academic year (week commencing 25 September 2023). This has been driven by a 0.7 percentage point decrease in authorised absence and a 0.2 percentage point decrease in unauthorised absence.
The data shows that the attendance rate across the 2024/25 academic year to date was 94.5%. The absence rate was, therefore, 5.5% across all schools.
By school type, the absence rates across the academic year to date were:
- 4.2% in state-funded primary schools (2.9% authorised and 1.4% unauthorised)
- 6.8% in state-funded secondary schools (4.2% authorised and 2.6% unauthorised)
- 11.4% in state-funded special schools (8.4% authorised and 3.0% unauthorised)
Latest data - week commencing 23 September 2024
The latest data relates to the week commencing 23 September 2024 and is available in the pupil attendance dashboard (opens in new tab). Data is collected on a daily basis and data for the interim weeks between publications is included in year-to-date figures and is available on a daily and weekly basis in the underlying data available on this page (see “Explore data and files”). The dashboard displays attendance and absence headline figures, and reasons for absence at national, regional and local authority geographic levels. Data is available across primary, secondary and special schools and can be broken down by individual school type.
The data shows that the attendance rate across the week for all schools was 94.0%, giving an overall absence rate of 6.0%. The absence rate varied across the week with a low of 5.5% on Wednesday, and a peak of 6.7% on Friday. The peak in absence on a Friday is in line with weekly patterns in historical attendance data.
Users should be aware of the following:
- Response rate - 98% of schools shared data in the most recent week, therefore national figures are estimates. Across school types this was: 98% of state-funded primary schools, 97% of state-funded secondary schools and 94% of state-funded special schools. This follows it becoming mandatory for schools to share attendance data with the DfE from the start of the 2024/25 academic year.
- 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 this could be a decrease in the absence rate of 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 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 new tab) to help identify pupils needing attendance support earlier.
Academic year to date
Access the Pupil attendance and absence in schools in England: data dashboard (opens in new tab) here
Data for the academic year 2024/25 relates to the period from 09 September 2024 to 27 September 2024. Data from across the year to date is available in the pupil attendance dashboard (opens in new tab)and the data catalogue available on this page (see “Explore data and files”).
Overall absence during the 2024/25 year to date was 5.5%. Absence has increased from the start of term, from 4.8% in week commencing 09 September, to 5.7% in week commencing 16 September and 6.0% in week commencing 23 September. This appears to be driven primarily by illness absence, which has increased from 1.9% in the week commencing 09 September to 3.0% in the week commencing 23 September.
Users should be aware of the following:
- Response rate - 98% of schools shared data in the most recent week, therefore national figures are estimates. Across school types this was: 98% of state-funded primary schools, 97% of state-funded secondary schools and 94% of state-funded special schools. This follows it becoming mandatory for schools to share attendance data with the DfE from the start of the 2024/25 academic year.
- 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 this could be a decrease in the absence rate of 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 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 new tab) to help identify pupils needing attendance support earlier.
Contact us
If you have a specific enquiry about Pupil attendance in schools statistics and data:
School Census Statistics Team
Email: schools.statistics@education.gov.ukContact name: School Census Statistics Team
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If you have a media enquiry:
Telephone: 020 7783 8300
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