Pupil attendance in schools
Fortnightly data on pupil attendance, including by reason, phase and geography.
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Headline facts and figures
This release presents the statistics for the full 2025/26 academic year, including breakdowns by pupil characteristics. Most schools had closed in the week commencing 20 July 2026. Data for the small number of local authorities that remained open during the week commencing 20 July 2026 is available in the underlying data.
The data shows that the attendance rate across the 2025/26 academic year was 93.07%. The absence rate was, therefore, 6.93% across all schools, which is a 0.06 percentage point increase compared to last academic year.
By school type, the absence rates across the 2025/26 academic year were:
- 5.31% in state-funded primary schools (3.72% authorised and 1.59% unauthorised).
- 8.57% in state-funded secondary schools (5.24% authorised and 3.33% unauthorised).
- 13.19% in state-funded special schools (9.56% authorised and 3.64% unauthorised).
The rate of absence in academic year 2025/26 is equivalent to approximately 4.38 million more days in school compared to the 2023/24 academic year, assuming pupil numbers are equal across years (see Every child achieving and thriving policy paper (opens in new tab)). For further information on how these estimates are calculated, see the ‘Calculating days in school’ section of the Pupil attendance in schools methodology.
By pupil characteristics, the absence rates across the 2025/26 academic year were:
- 10.87% for pupils who were eligible for free school meals and 5.26% for pupils who were not eligible for free school meals.
- 13.64% for pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), 10.07% for pupils with SEN support and 5.80% with no identified SEN.
- 6.97% for female pupils and 6.89% for male pupils.
Across the 2025/26 academic year, the rate of persistent absence (pupils who miss 10% or more of their possible sessions) was 19.05% which is a 0.35 percentage point increase compared to last academic year.
By school type, the persistent absence rate across the 2025/26 academic year was:
- 13.90% in state-funded primary schools.
- 24.21% in state-funded secondary schools.
- 36.25% in state-funded special schools.
Review of pupil attendance publication frequency
We are looking to reduce the frequency of our fortnightly Pupil attendance in schools publication. These attendance statistics provide an early indication of trends in attendance levels ahead of the more detailed termly absence statistics that are based on the school census. While the attendance publication remains widely used, evidence shows a consistent decline in usage year-on-year, and lower relative usage in the second half of the academic year. We are therefore proposing to reduce the frequency of attendance statistics from fortnightly to monthly after the spring half term each year going forward, starting in the 2026/27 academic year. Publications will continue on a fortnightly basis during the first half of each academic year, with the first proposed changes likely to be taking effect in March 2027.
These changes will maintain transparency while enabling us to improve the statistics in terms of quality and insight. Users are invited to provide feedback on this proposal by 28 August 2026 using the email address below. We will consider this feedback and announce the outcome of this review in September 2026.
Latest data - week commencing 13 July 2026
Access the Pupil attendance and absence in schools in England: data dashboard (opens in new tab) here.
The latest data relates to the week commencing 13 July 2026 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 90.99%, giving an overall absence rate of 9.01%. The absence rate varied across the week with a low of 7.83% on Tuesday, and a peak 11.42% on Friday.
The peak in absence on a Friday is in line with weekly patterns seen during 2024/25 and in historical attendance data.
Absence was 0.07 percentage points lower across all schools in the week commencing 13 July 2026 than in the equivalent week in the last academic year (week commencing 14 July 2025). This has been driven by a 0.16 percentage point decrease in authorised absence and a 0.08 percentage point increase in unauthorised absence.
Users should be aware of the following:
- Response rate - Of schools participating in the School Census, 96% provided information on the latest full day of data (17 July 2026). Therefore national figures are estimates. Across school types this was: 97% of state-funded primary schools, 94% 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.
- 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 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.
Autumn and spring term 2025/26
Access the Pupil attendance and absence in schools in England: data dashboard (opens in new tab) here
Data for autumn term 2025/26 was published in the Week 2 2026 release and relates to the period from 08 September to 20 December 2025.
Data for spring term 2025/26 was published in the Week 13 2026 release and relates to the period from 05 January to 02 April 2026.
Summer term 2025/26
Access the Pupil attendance and absence in schools in England: data dashboard (opens in new tab) here
Data for summer term 2025/26 relates to the period from 13 April to 24 July 2026.
The overall absence rate for the summer term 2025/26 was 7.42, up by 0.17 percentage points compared to the previous summer term and the persistent absence rate (pupils who miss 10% or more of their possible sessions) was 22.51%, up by 0.59 percentage points compared to the previous summer term.
Overall absence was around 6.2% in the first week of term, absence remained around this level until the week before half term where it reached 8.9%. After half term, absence fell to around 7.0% and remained around 6.5% for the following two weeks. The following week (week commencing 22 June 2026) coincided with an exceptional heatwave affecting parts of England. The absence rate for that week was around 11.8%; the highest rate for both the summer term and the entire 2025/26 academic year. Absence then fell to around 6.8% and grew until the end of the academic year where it reached 9.0%.
This rate of absence is equivalent to approximately 1,200,000 fewer days in school compared to the previous summer term. For further information on how these estimates are calculated, see the 'Calculating days in school' section of the Pupil attendance in schools methodology.
Free school meals (FSM)
In the summer term, absence rates were higher for pupils eligible for free school meals (11.62%) than those not eligible (5.59%).
Among pupils eligible for free school meals, the persistent absence rate was 36.06%, in contrast, the persistent absence rate for non-eligible pupils was 16.47%.
Special educational needs (SEN)
In the summer term, absence rates were highest for pupils with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan (14.28%), followed by pupils receiving SEN support (10.70%) and pupils with no identified SEN (6.21%).
Among pupils with an EHC Plan, the persistent absence rate was 37.50%. The persistent absence rate for pupils receiving SEN support was 31.54% and the persistent absence rate for pupils with no identified SEN was 19.58%.
Sex
In the summer term, absence rates were slightly higher for female pupils (7.50%) than for male pupils (7.36%).
Among female pupils, the persistent absence rate was 22.97%, while for male pupils the persistent absence rate was 22.08%.
Users should be aware of the following:
- Response rate - Of schools participating in the School Census, 96% provided information on the latest full day of data (17 July 2026). Therefore national figures are estimates. Across school types this was: 97% of state-funded primary schools, 94% 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.
- 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 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 2025/26
Access the Pupil attendance and absence in schools in England: data dashboard (opens in new tab) here.
Data for the academic year 2025/26 relates to the period from 08 September 2025 to 24 July 2026. Data from across the year to date is available in the pupil attendance dashboard (opens in new tab) and the data catalogue on this page (see “Explore data and files”).
Across the 2025/26 academic year, overall absence was around 6.9% which is a 0.06 percentage point increase compared to the 2024/25 academic year and 0.28 percentage points lower than the 2023/24 academic year. This decrease in absence is equivalent to approximately 4.38 million more days in school compared to the 2023/24 academic year, assuming pupil numbers are equal across years. For further information on how these estimates are calculated, see the 'Calculating days in school' section of the Pupil attendance in schools methodology.
Persistent absence (pupils who miss 10% or more of their possible sessions) for the 2025/26 academic year was 19.05% which is a 0.35 percentage increase compared to the 2024/25 academic year and 1.61 percentage points decrease compared to the 2023/24 academic year (see Every child achieving and thriving policy paper (opens in new tab)).
The rate of persistent absence (pupils who miss 10% or more of their possible sessions) for the 2024/25 academic year was 18.7%. In the autumn term the rate of persistent absence was 19.1% which increased to 20.2% in the spring term and to 21.9% in the summer term.
Overall absence
Overall absence was around 4.7% in the first week of the academic year and generally increased across the autumn term to a peak of around 8.9% in the final week of term (week commencing 15 December 2025).
Overall absence was around 6.8% in the first week of the spring term and remained between 6-7% across the spring term before rising to around 8.6% in the penultimate week of half term (the week marking Eid-al-Fitr celebrations) before then falling to around 7.3% in the final week of the spring term for most schools.
In the first week of the summer term absence was around 6.2% and rose to around 8.9% in the week prior to half term. In the week following half term absence fell to around 7.0% and in the week commencing 22 June 2026 it was around 11.9%. The week commencing 22 June 2026 coincided with an exceptional heatwave affecting parts of England, and absence rates should be interpreted in the context of these weather conditions. Absence then fell significantly to around 6.8% and grew until the end of the academic year where it reached 9.0%.
Illness absence
Most of the increases in absence across the year have been driven by illness. Rates rose from around 1.9% at the start of the autumn term to a peak of around 4.7% in the week commencing 01 December 2025.
Illness absence then fell to around 2.8% in the first week of the spring term, before rising to a high of around 3.7% in the week commencing 26 January 2026. Following the spring half-term break, illness absence decreased again to around 2.7%, and gradually increased across the half-term to around 3.6% in the final week of spring term for most schools.
In the first week of the summer term for the majority of schools, illness was around 2.4%. In the week prior to summer half term illness rose to around 3.4% before falling in the week after half term to around 2.7%. In the week commencing 22 June 2026 illness reached 4.5%. The exceptional heatwave affecting parts of England during the week commencing 22 June 2026 may have contributed to higher illness absence.
Unauthorised absence
Unauthorised absence was fairly stable around 1.8 - 2.2% across the autumn term, with peaks in the week immediately prior to half term of around 2.5% and in the final week of term of around 3.2%.
Unauthorised absence remained high in the first week of the spring term at 2.8% before falling to 2.1% in the following week. Unauthorised absence remained around 2.2% for the majority of the spring term, apart from peaks of 2.4% in the week before half term and 2.7 - 3.3% in the final weeks of spring term.
Compared to the other terms, unauthorised absence was generally higher across the summer term with rates varying between 2.3% - 2.6% across the term with peaks of 3.1% in the week before half term and 4.4% the week commencing 22 June 2026 as well as in the final week of the academic year.
Free school meals (FSM)
In the 2025/26 academic year, absence rates were higher for pupils eligible for free school meals (10.87%) than those not eligible (5.26%).
Among pupils eligible for free school meals, the persistent absence rate was 33.84%, in contrast, the persistent absence rate for non-eligible pupils was 12.80%.
Special educational needs (SEN)
In the 2025/26 academic year, absence rates were highest among pupils with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan (13.64%) compared to pupils with SEN support (10.07%) and pupils with no identified SEN (5.80%).
Among pupils with an EHC Plan, the persistent absence rate was 36.94%. Similarly, the persistent absence rate for pupils with SEN support was 29.34% while for pupils with no identified SEN it was 16.11%.
Sex
In the 2025/26 academic year, absence rates were slightly higher for female pupils (6.97%) than for male pupils (6.89%).
Among female pupils, the persistent absence rate was 19.34%. In contrast, the persistent absence rate for male pupils was 18.79%.
Users should be aware of the following:
- Response rate - Of schools participating in the School Census, 96% provided information on the latest full day of data (17 July 2026). Therefore national figures are estimates. Across school types this was: 97% of state-funded primary schools, 94% 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.
- 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 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.
About this release
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.
The figures are published as Official Statistics to give an indicative figure for the absence rate during the 2025/26 academic year, from the 08 September 2025.
Schools can use the ‘Compare your attendance (opens in new tab)’ dashboard to compare with other schools in the local authority. This has been updated to show data for this current academic year. Use it to compare absence and unauthorised absence for your school, as well as special educational needs and free school meals pupils.
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 frequent Accredited Official Statistics on pupil absence (which include school level breakdowns). The Accredited Official Statistics are updated termly, with the latest data published published on 06 August 2026 relating to the relating to the 2025/26 autumn term, including data on characteristics.
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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If you have a general enquiry about the Department for Education (DfE) or education:
Phone: 0370 000 2288
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