Technical note - SFR10/2015
Source: data.gov.uk (2017-09-13)

Pupil absence in schools in England: 2013 to 2014. This release, published by the Department for Education, provides information on the levels of overall, authorised and unauthorised absence in: - state-funded primary schools - state-funded secondary schools - state-funded special schools It includes information on: - reasons for absence - persistent absentees - pupil characteristics Absence information for pupil referral units is based on pupil level absence data collected via the school census. The technical note explains the statistics. Information for London Borough of Barnet can be obtained by carrying out a search query on individual datasets

A National Statistics publication  
National Statistics are produced to high professional 
standards set out in the National Statistics Code of 
Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews 
to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are 
produced free from any political interference. 
 
 
Statistical First Release 
Pupil absence in schools in England: 2013 to 2014 
 
Reference SFR 10/2015 
Date 26 March 2015 
Coverage England 
Theme Children, Education and Skills 
Issued by Department for Education, Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BT 
Press office xx-xxxx-xxxx 
Public enquiries 037 0000 2288 
Statistician Clare Jones 
Phone xx-xxxx-xxxx 
Email xxx@xxx.xx 
Internet Statistics: pupil absence 
 
Overall absence rates 
have decreased 
Overall absence rates have decreased from 5.3 per cent in 2012/13 to 
4.5 per cent in 2013/14. This is due to a decrease in authorised 
absence rates from 4.2 per cent in 2012/13 to 3.5 per cent in 2013/14. 
Unauthorised absence rates have remained stable at 1.1 per cent. 
The number of pupil 
enrolments classified as 
persistent absentees 
has also decreased 
The percentage of pupils classified as persistent absentees has 
decreased by 1.0 percentage points from 4.6 per cent in 2012/13, to 3.6 
per cent in 2013/14.  
The fall in overall 
absence rates is largely 
due to a fall in levels of 
illness 
Absence due to illness decreased from 3.1 per cent of all possible 
sessions in 2012/13 to 2.6 per cent of all possible sessions in 2013/14. 
Illness remains the most common reason for absence, accounting for 
57.9 per cent of all absences in 2013/14. 
Overall absence rates 
for the first five half 
terms of the academic 
year are at their lowest 
since 2006/07  
Looking at longer term trends, based on data for the first five half 
terms of the academic year, overall absence rates have fallen from 6.5 
per cent in 2006/07 to 4.4 per cent in 2013/14. 

SFR 10/2015: Pupil absence in schools in England: 2013 to 2014, issued 26 March 2015 
 
Page 2 of 13 
1. Background and context 
This Statistical First Release reports on absence in state-funded primary, secondary and 
special schools during the 2013/14 academic year. Information on absence in pupil referral 
units and absence for four year olds is also included. 
The Department uses two key measures to monitor pupil absence; overall absence and 
persistent absence. Absence information by reason, characteristics and geographic location is 
also included in this release. 
Unless explicitly stated, the figures quoted within this release relate to pupil absence across 
the full six half terms of the academic year, with data for the second half of the summer term 
having been collected for the second time in 2013/14. Five half term figures are used to look at 
longer term trends prior to the 2012/13 academic year but, as previously noted, this is the last 
release in which a full set of five half term absence figures will be provided. As of 2012/13 six 
half term absence figures should be used to monitor full year pupil absence levels. All figures 
in this release are based on unrounded data; therefore constituent parts may not add up due 
to rounding. 
Figures held in this release are used as key indicators in behaviour and attendance policy. 
High levels of attendance are essential in ensuring that all pupils can benefit from the 
opportunities provided by education. 
A “Guide to published absence statistics”, which provides historical information on absence 
statistics, technical background information to the figures and data collection, and definitions 
of key terms is also being published alongside this release for the first time. 
2. Overall absence rates (Table 1.2 and underlying data) 
Table 1: Overall absence rates have decreased 
 
2012/13 
2013/14 
State-funded primary schools 
4.7 
3.9 
State-funded secondary schools 
5.9 
5.2 
Special schools 
9.6 
9.0 
State-funded primary, secondary and special schools  
5.3 
4.5 
 
Overall absence rates 
have decreased 
The overall absence rate over the full academic year across state-
funded primary, secondary and special schools fell from 5.3 per cent 
in 2012/13, to 4.5 per cent in 2013/14. 
The decrease in 
absence rates is due to 
a fall in authorised 
absence rates 
Authorised absence rates have fallen from 4.2 per cent in 2012/13, to 
3.5 per cent in 2013/14 across state-funded primary, secondary and 
special schools. This is largely due to a decrease in absence due to 
illness and agreed family holidays. Unauthorised absence rates have 
remained relatively unchanged at 1.1 per cent. 
Fewer days are being 
missed due to absence 
The total number of days missed due to overall absence has fallen 
from 60.1 million in 2012/13 to 52.0 million in 2013/14.   

SFR 10/2015: Pupil absence in schools in England: 2013 to 2014, issued 26 March 2015 
 
Page 3 of 13 
3. Persistent absentees (Table 1.4 and 4.1) 
Persistent absentees are defined as those pupils missing around 15 per cent or more of 
possible sessions. The persistent absence threshold is identified as 15 per cent or more of the 
typical amount of possible sessions across a given period. This equates to 56 or more sessions 
of absence (either authorised or unauthorised) for pupils aged 5 to 14 and 46 or more sessions 
of absence for pupils aged 15 during the full academic year. 
This threshold is reviewed every year to account for any changes to the typical amount of 
possible sessions for all pupils – however, the thresholds do not tend to change from year to 
year (see Chapter 3 of "Guide to absence statistics" for full information on the standard 
thresholds since 2005/06). 
Table 2: The percentage of pupil enrolments that are 
persistent absentees has decreased 
 
2012/13 
2013/14 
State-funded primary schools 
2.7 
1.9 
State-funded secondary schools 
6.5 
5.3 
Special schools 
16.2 
14.6 
State-funded primary, secondary and special schools 
4.6 
3.6 
 
The percentage of 
pupils classified as 
persistent absentees 
has decreased 
The percentage of pupils across state-funded primary, secondary and 
special schools classified as persistent absentees fell by 1.0 percentage 
points from 4.6 per cent in 2012/13, to 3.6 per cent in 2013/14. 
Persistent absentees 
now account for a 
smaller proportion of 
all absence  
In 2013/14, absence by persistent absentees accounted for 19.9 per 
cent of all absence compared to 21.3 per cent in 2012/13. 
The majority of primary 
and secondary schools 
have a low percentage 
of pupils that are 
persistent absentees 
In 2013/14, 99.4 per cent of primary schools and 89.9 per cent of 
secondary schools had 9 per cent or fewer pupils that were classified 
as persistent absentees. This compares to 98.0 per cent of primary 
schools and 80.6 per cent of secondary schools in 2012/13. 
4. Reasons for absence (Table 2.1) 
Illness remains the 
most common reason 
for absence 
Illness (not medical or dental appointments) accounted for 57.9 per 
cent of all absences in 2013/14 compared to 58.3 per cent of all 
absences in 2012/13. 
The percentage of all possible sessions missed due to illness also 
decreased, from 3.1 per cent in 2012/13 to 2.6 per cent in 2013/14.  
 
 

SFR 10/2015: Pupil absence in schools in England: 2013 to 2014, issued 26 March 2015 
 
Page 4 of 13 
Family holidays account 
for a lower proportion 
of absence than last 
year 
Family holidays (authorised and unauthorised) accounted for 8.5 per 
cent of all absences in 2013/14 compared to 11.4 per cent of all 
absences in 2012/13. 
The percentage of all possible sessions missed due to all family 
holidays also decreased from 0.6 per cent in 2012/13, to 0.4 per cent in 
2013/14. 
This decrease is due to a fall in authorised family holidays (from 0.4 
per cent in 2012/13 to 0.1 per cent in 2013/14), whilst unauthorised 
family holidays have seen a small increase (from 0.2 per cent in 
2012/13 to 0.3 per cent in 2013/14). 
5. Distribution of absence (Table 3.1 and underlying data) 
The majority of pupils 
were absent for five 
days or fewer 
50.6 per cent of pupil enrolments had five or fewer days of absence in 
2013/14, compared to 42.3 per cent in 2012/13. 
53.5 per cent of pupil enrolments in primary schools, and 47.2 per 
cent of pupil enrolments in secondary schools had five or fewer days 
of absence in 2013/14. 
Pupils in primary school 
miss fewer days on 
average 
Per pupil enrolment, the average total absence in primary schools 
was 6.9 days. This compares to 15.5 days in special schools and 
around 9.1 days in secondary schools. 
6. Absence by pupil characteristics (Table 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5 and 6.1) 
Absence levels for FSM 
pupils are higher than 
the national average 
The overall absence rate for pupils who are known to be eligible for 
and claiming free school meals (FSM) was 6.7 per cent compared to 
4.0 per cent for non FSM pupils. 
The percentage of FSM eligible pupil enrolments that were persistent 
absentees was 8.3 per cent, compared to 2.5 per cent of pupil 
enrolments not eligible for FSM that were persistent absentees.  
Absence levels for SEN 
pupils are higher than 
the national average 
Pupils with a statement of special education needs (SEN) had an 
overall absence rate of 7.5 per cent whereas pupils with no identified 
SEN had an overall absence rate of 4.1 per cent.  
The percentage of pupils with a statement of SEN that are persistent 
absentees (11.0 per cent) is more than four times higher than the 
percentage for pupils with no identified SEN (2.6 per cent). 
Absence rates are 
higher later in school 
Pupils in national curriculum year group 11 had an overall absence 
rate (6.2 per cent) that was approximately 1.5 times higher than the 
rate for pupils in national curriculum year group 7 (4.2 per cent).  
 
 

SFR 10/2015: Pupil absence in schools in England: 2013 to 2014, issued 26 March 2015 
 
Page 5 of 13 
Absence rates for 
Traveller of Irish 
Heritage and 
Gypsy/Roma pupils are 
higher than any other 
pupil ethnic group 
The overall absence rates for Traveller of Irish Heritage and 
Gypsy/Roma were 19.2 per cent and 13.3 per cent respectively. 
The overall absence rates for pupils of a Chinese and Black-African 
ethnicity were substantially lower than the national average of 4.5 
per cent at 2.5 per cent and 2.9 per cent respectively. 
A similar pattern is seen in the persistent absence rates, Traveller of 
Irish Heritage pupils have the highest rate at 36.3 per cent, and 
Chinese pupils have the lowest rate at 0.6 per cent. 
Overall absence rates 
in the most deprived 
areas are higher than in 
the least deprived 
areas 
The rate of overall absence for pupils living in the most deprived 
areas (5.3 per cent) was 1.6 times higher than for pupils living in the 
least deprived areas (3.4 per cent). 
The percentage of pupils in the most deprived areas that are 
persistent absentees (5.0 per cent) is over three times higher than the 
percentage for pupils in the least deprived areas (1.6 per cent). 
7. Five half term absence 
The Department first collected absence data for the second half of the summer term (sixth half 
term) for the 2012/13 academic year. Prior to this absence data had only been collected for the 
autumn term, spring term and the first half of the summer term. Whilst the Department’s full 
year key absence measures are now based on the full academic year’s (six half terms) data 
absence information for the first five half terms has been used in this release to inform analysis 
of longer term trends. Five and six half term data is similar, with overall differences typically 
lying between 0.0 and 0.1 percentage points. 
This is the last year for which a full set of five half term tables will be provided as part of this 
release. 
Figure 1: Overall absence rates have decreased 
 

SFR 10/2015: Pupil absence in schools in England: 2013 to 2014, issued 26 March 2015 
 
Page 6 of 13 
Overall absence rates 
for the first five half 
terms of the academic 
year are at their lowest 
since 2006/07  
Overall absence rates for the first five half terms of the academic year 
have fallen from 6.5 per cent in 2006/07 to 4.4 per cent in 2013/14. 
 
The addition of the 
second half of the 
summer term has a 
negligible effect on 
overall absence and 
persistent absence 
rates 
The overall absence rate for the first five half terms of 2013/14 was 4.4 
per cent, compared to 4.5 per cent for the full academic year. The 
difference in the overall absence rate is partly due to an increase in 
the unauthorised absence rate by 0.1 percentage points for six half 
terms. 
The persistent absence rate was the same (to one decimal place) for 
the first five half terms of 2013/14 and the full academic year, at 3.6 
per cent. 
Figure 2: Persistent absence rates have decreased 
 
The number of pupil 
enrolments classified as 
persistent absentees 
has continued to fall 
The percentage of pupils classified as persistent absentees (missing 46 
or more sessions) has decreased from 6.8 per cent in the first five half 
terms of 2009/10 to 3.6 per cent in the first five half terms of 2013/14. 
 
 
 

SFR 10/2015: Pupil absence in schools in England: 2013 to 2014, issued 26 March 2015 
 
Page 7 of 13 
Figure 3: The fall in overall family holiday absence is due 
to a decrease in authorised family holidays 
 
Over the last five years 
authorised absence 
rates due to family 
holiday have decreased 
substantially 
The percentage of all possible sessions missed due to family holidays 
(authorised and unauthorised) in the first five half terms decreased 
from 0.6 per cent in 2009/10, to 0.3 per cent in 2013/14. 
This decrease is due to a decrease in authorised family holidays, 
whilst unauthorised family holidays have seen a small increase. 
8. Absence for four year olds (Table 12.2) 
Absence information for four year olds (who are not of compulsory school age) has been 
collected since autumn term 2012. 
The overall absence rate for four year olds dropped from 6.1 per cent in 2012/13 to 5.1 per cent 
in 2013/14.  
9. Pupil referral unit absence (Table 13.2) 
Absence data for pupil referral units (PRUs), including alternative provision academies and 
free schools, was collected termly for the first time in the spring 2014 School Census, having 
previously only been collected annually via the PRU Census. In 2012/13 the PRU annual 
census was discontinued; therefore there is no comparable data available for the 2012/13 
academic year. 
The overall absence rate for pupils enrolled in PRUs in the full 2013/14 academic year was 31.9 
per cent, of which 18.1 per cent of sessions were missed due to authorised absences, and 13.8 
per cent of sessions were missed because of unauthorised absence. 
The percentage of pupil enrolments in PRUs classified as persistent absentees in 2013/14 was 
37.6 per cent. 
 

SFR 10/2015: Pupil absence in schools in England: 2013 to 2014, issued 26 March 2015 
 
Page 8 of 13 
10. List of tables 
The following tables are available in excel format on the Department’s statistics website: 
 Pupil absence in schools in England. 
National tables 
Figures 
1 
State-funded primary, 
secondary and 
special schools: Overall absence rates by 
sector 
2 
State-funded primary, 
secondary and 
special schools: Percentage of pupil 
enrolments that are Persistent Absentees. 
National Tables 
1.1 State-funded primary, secondary and 
special schools: Pupil absence by type of 
school, five half terms 
1.2 State-funded primary, secondary and 
special schools: Pupil absence by type of 
school, six half terms 
1.3 State-funded primary, secondary and 
special schools: Persistent Absentees, five 
half terms 
1.4 State-funded primary, secondary and 
special schools: Persistent Absentees, six 
half terms 
2.1 State-funded primary, secondary and 
special schools: Absence by reason and 
gender, six half terms 
2.2 State-funded primary, secondary and 
special schools: Absence by reason for 
Persistent Absentees, six half terms 
3.1 State-funded primary, secondary and 
special schools: Distribution of enrolments 
by length of overall absence, six half terms 
3.2  State-funded primary, secondary and 
special schools: Percentage of enrolments 
by their overall absence rates, six half 
terms 
4.1 State-funded primary, secondary and 
special schools: Number of schools by the 
percentage of Persistent Absentees, six 
half terms 
5.1  State-funded primary, secondary and 
special 
schools: 
Pupil 
absence 
by 
characteristics, six half terms 
5.2  State-funded primary, secondary and 
special 
schools: 
Characteristics 
of 
Persistent Absentees, six half terms 
5.3 State-funded primary, secondary and 
special schools: Pupil absence by ethnic 
group, six half terms 
5.4 State-funded primary, secondary and 
special schools: Persistent Absentees by 
ethnic group, six half terms 
5.5 Absence 
rates 
by 
type 
of 
special 
educational need, six half terms 
6.1 State-funded primary, secondary and 
special schools: Pupil absence in schools by 
Income Deprivation Affecting Children 
Indices (IDACI) decile of pupil residence, six 
half terms 
Additional tables – National five half terms 
Figure  
3  
State-funded primary, secondary and special 
schools: Authorised and unauthorised family 
holiday absence rates 
National Tables 
7.1 State-funded primary, secondary and special 
schools: Absence by reason and gender, five 
half terms 
7.2 State-funded primary, secondary and special 
schools: Absence by reason for persistent 
absentees, five half terms 
8.1 State-funded primary, secondary and special 
schools: Distribution of enrolments by 
length of overall absence, five half terms 
8.2 State-funded primary, secondary and special 
schools: Percentage of enrolments by their 
overall absence rates, five half terms 

SFR 10/2015: Pupil absence in schools in England: 2013 to 2014, issued 26 March 2015 
 
Page 9 of 13 
9.1 State-funded primary, secondary and special 
schools: 
Number 
of 
schools 
by 
the 
percentage of Persistent Absentees, five half 
terms 
10.1 State-funded primary, secondary and special 
schools: Pupil absence by characteristics, 
five half terms 
10.2 State-funded primary, secondary and special 
schools: 
Characteristics 
of 
Persistent 
Absentees, five half terms 
10.3 State-funded primary, secondary and special 
schools: Pupil absence by ethnic group, five 
half terms 
10.4 State-funded primary, secondary and special 
schools: Persistent Absentees by ethnic 
group, five half terms 
10.5 State-funded primary, secondary and special 
schools: Absence rate by type of Special 
Educational need, five half terms 
Local authority tables 
11.1 State-funded primary, secondary and special 
schools: Pupil absence by type of school and 
local authority, five half terms 
11.2 State-funded primary, secondary and special 
schools: Pupil absence by type of school and 
local authority, six half terms 
12.1 State-funded primary, secondary and special 
schools: Four year old absence by local 
authority, five half terms 
12.2 State-funded primary, secondary and special 
schools: Four year old absence by local 
authority, six half terms 
13.1 Pupil referral units: Pupil absence by type of 
school and local authority, five half terms 
13.2 Pupil referral units: Pupil absence by type of 
school and local authority, six half terms 
14.1Pupil absence in schools by degree of rurality 
of school location, six half terms 
14.2 Pupil absence in schools by local authority 
district of school location, six half terms 
14.3 Pupil absence in schools by IDACI decile of 
pupil residence, six half terms 
14.4 Pupil absence in schools by degree of 
rurality of pupil residence, six half terms 
14.5 Pupil absence in schools by local authority 
district of pupil residence, six half terms 
14.6 Pupil absence in schools by IDACI decile and 
degree of rurality of pupil residence, six half 
terms  
Additional tables - Proposed persistent absentee methodology 
National tables  
15.1 Persistent absentees, proposed 
methodology 
15.2 Pupil absence by characteristics: persistent 
absentees, proposed methodology 
 
 
15.3 Pupil absence by ethnic group: persistent 
absentees, proposed methodology 
Local authority tables 
15.4 Proposed persistent absence methodology, 
Local Authority  
School level tables 
15.5 Proposed persistent absence methodology, 
Pupil referral units 
 
 

SFR 10/2015: Pupil absence in schools in England: 2013 to 2014, issued 26 March 2015 
 
Page 10 of 13 
When reviewing the tables, please note the following: 
We preserve 
confidentiality 
The Code of Practice for Official Statistics requires that reasonable 
steps should be taken to ensure that all published or disseminated 
statistics produced by the Department for Education protects 
confidentiality. 
So we round numbers 
Enrolment numbers at national and regional levels have been 
rounded to the nearest 5. Enrolment numbers of 1 or 2 have been 
suppressed to protect pupil confidentiality. Where any number is 
shown as 0, the original figure was also 0. Where the numerator or 
denominator of any percentage calculated on enrolment numbers is 
less than 3, the percentage has been suppressed. This suppression is 
consistent with the Departmental statistical policy. 
And adopt symbols to 
help identify this 
Symbols are used in the tables as follows: 
0  zero 
x  small number suppressed to preserve confidentiality 
.   not applicable 
..  not available 
11.  Background: Additional information and updates 
This SFR is accompanied by underlying data, including national, local authority and school 
level information. The accompanying file includes a metadata document which provides 
further information on the contents of these files. This data is released under the terms of the 
Open Government License and is intended to meet at least 3 stars for Open Data.  
In October 2014 the Department consulted on a change to the methodology used to identify 
pupils who are persistently absent and a change to the structure of the absence Statistical First 
Releases to focus on the provision of more time series data via a machine readable CSV format 
rather than in data tables. The full consultation can be found in Section 9 of the “Pupil absence 
in schools in England: autumn 2013 and spring 2014” Statistical First Release.  
Responses to this consultation are still being reviewed by the Department and a full response 
will be released in due course. 
However, as outlined in the previous statistical first release, additional tables are provided in 
this release to show persistent absence figures under the proposed methodology so that users 
can fully understand the differences between the current and proposed methodology. 
The proposed methodology would mean that a pupil enrolment would be classified as a 
persistent absentee if they missed 15 per cent or more of possible sessions. This differs from 
the current methodology which uses a standard threshold where a pupil enrolment is 
classified as persistently absent if they miss 56 or more sessions for the full academic year, and 
46 or more sessions for the first five half terms. 
 

SFR 10/2015: Pupil absence in schools in England: 2013 to 2014, issued 26 March 2015 
 
Page 11 of 13 
12. Technical notes 
A “Guide to published absence statistics”, which provides historical information on absence 
statistics, technical background information to the figures and data collection, and definitions 
of key terms is also being published alongside this release for the first time. 
The following technical notes are specific to this publication. 
12.1 Data are collected a term in arrears, meaning that where a school closes, data are not 
collected for the last term the school was open. For schools which close at the end of a 
term, data for that term will not be collected.  
110 sponsor-led academies opened on or after the beginning of the spring 2014 term and 
incorrectly returned absence data for the autumn term. The autumn term data for these 
schools has been excluded from this analysis.  
Also, 64 sponsor-led academies opened part way through the spring term and 
incorrectly returned absence data for their predecessor school. As the combined absence 
data would then related to both the academy and their predecessor school these 
academies have been completely removed from this analysis.  
Year on year comparisons of local authority data may be affected by schools converting 
to academies.  
12.2 Schools with fewer than 6 pupil enrolments aged between five and fifteen are removed 
from our analysis. For this release, 27 such schools were removed from the main five to 
fifteen year old analysis. 
 
 
 

SFR 10/2015: Pupil absence in schools in England: 2013 to 2014, issued 26 March 2015 
 
Page 12 of 13 
13. Want more? 
Want previously 
published figures? 
For recent pupil absence figures visit: Pupil absence in schools in 
England 
Want Wales, Scotland, 
Northern Ireland? 
The School Census only collects absence information from schools in 
England. For information for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, 
contact the departments below or access their statistics at the 
following links: 
Wales: xxx@xxx.xx or 
Welsh Government – Statistics and Research  
Scotland: xxx@xxx.xx or 
Scottish Government – School Education Statistics 
Northern Ireland: xxx@xxx.xx or  
Department of Education – Education Statistics 
Revisions? 
There are no planned revisions to this Statistical First Release, 
however, if at a later date we need to make a revision, this will 
comply with the Departmental revision policy. 
14. Got a query? Like to give feedback? 
If from the media 
Press Office News Desk, Department for Education, Sanctuary 
Buildings, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BT. 
xx-xxxx-xxxx 
If non-media 
Education Standards Evidence and Dissemination Division, Level 2, 
Department for Education, Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, 
London SW1P 3BT.  
xxx@xxx.xx 
 
 

SFR 10/2015: Pupil absence in schools in England: 2013 to 2014, issued 26 March 2015 
 
Page 13 of 13 
 
 
© Crown copyright 2015 
You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of charge in any 
format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To 
view 
this 
licence, 
visit 
Open 
Government 
Licence 
or 
e-mail: 
xxx@xxx.xx.  
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need 
to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.  
Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at 
xxx@xxx.xx.  
This 
document 
is 
also 
available 
from 
our 
website 
at 
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-pupil-absence.