Data set from Pupil absence in schools in England

Absence as a percentage of possible sessions by band

Latest data

Published 15 October 2026

Last updated 15 October 2026

The number of pupil enrolments by overall, authorised and unauthorised absence percentage point bands. This shows absence as a percentage of all possible sessions.

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Data set details

• Theme: Pupils and schools
• Publication: Pupil absence in schools in England
• Release: Autumn and spring term 2025/26
• Number of rows: 3,672
• Geographic levels: National
• Indicators:
  • Number of all pupil enrolments that fall into that per cent band for COVID-19 non-attendance
  • 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 overall absence
  • Number of all pupil enrolments that fall into that per cent band for unauthorised absence
  • Percentage of all pupil enrolments that fall into that per cent band for COVID-19 non-attendance
  • Percentage of all pupil enrolments that fall into that per cent band for authorised absence
  • Percentage of all pupil enrolments that fall into that per cent band for illness absence
  • Percentage of all pupil enrolments that fall into that per cent band for overall absence
  • Percentage of all pupil enrolments that fall into that per cent band for unauthorised absence
• Filters:
  • Absence percentage band
  • School type
• Time period: 2016/17 Autumn and spring term to 2025/26 Autumn and spring term

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Data set preview

Table showing first 5 rows, from underlying data

time_period	time_identifier	geographic_level	country_code	country_name	education_phase	percent_bands	enrolments_overall	enrolments_overall_percent	enrolments_authorised	enrolments_authorised_percent	enrolments_unauthorised	enrolments_unauthorised_percent	enrolments_sess_x_covid	enrolments_sess_x_covid_percent	enrolments_illness	enrolments_illness_percent
202526	Autumn and spring term	National	E92000001	England	Total	Total	7245602	100	7245602	100	7245602	100	0	0	7245602	100
202526	Autumn and spring term	National	E92000001	England	Total	0	754259	10.40989	1029077	14.20278	4244175	58.57588	0	0	1654621	22.83621
202526	Autumn and spring term	National	E92000001	England	Total	0.01 - 0.99	754858	10.41815	936880	12.93033	996753	13.75666	0	0	990632	13.67218
202526	Autumn and spring term	National	E92000001	England	Total	1.00 - 1.99	847333	11.69445	994713	13.72851	495169	6.83406	0	0	978680	13.50723
202526	Autumn and spring term	National	E92000001	England	Total	2.00 - 2.99	756376	10.43911	848748	11.71397	309034	4.26513	0	0	801502	11.06191

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Variables in this data set

Table showing all 12 variables

Variable name	Variable description
education_phase	School type - Filter by school type
enrolments_authorised	Number of all pupil enrolments that fall into that per cent band for authorised absence
enrolments_authorised_percent	Percentage of all pupil enrolments that fall into that per cent band for authorised absence
enrolments_illness	Number of all pupil enrolments that fall into that per cent band for illness absence
enrolments_illness_percent	Percentage of all pupil enrolments that fall into that per cent band for illness absence
enrolments_overall	Number of all pupil enrolments that fall into that per cent band for overall absence
enrolments_overall_percent	Percentage of all pupil enrolments that fall into that per cent band for overall absence
enrolments_sess_x_covid	Number of all pupil enrolments that fall into that per cent band for COVID-19 non-attendance
enrolments_sess_x_covid_percent	Percentage of all pupil enrolments that fall into that per cent band for COVID-19 non-attendance
enrolments_unauthorised	Number of all pupil enrolments that fall into that per cent band for unauthorised absence
enrolments_unauthorised_percent	Percentage of all pupil enrolments that fall into that per cent band for unauthorised absence
percent_bands	Absence percentage band - Filter by percentage of absence

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Footnotes

1. Total includes state-funded primary, secondary and special schools. Data for special schools is available from 2016/17 to present.
2. Sessions recorded as not attending due to COVID circumstances are included as possible sessions in 2020/21 and 2021/22 only, but not as an absence within absence rates. Comparisons with these years should be treated with caution.

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Using this data

• Download the underlying data as a compressed ZIP file

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Download this data using code

Access this data using common programming languages using the URL below.

Example code

Python

import pandas as pd

pd.read_csv("https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-catalogue/data-set/1b30cbbe-b383-4966-a5b2-b93cd407f309/csv")

R

read.csv("https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-catalogue/data-set/1b30cbbe-b383-4966-a5b2-b93cd407f309/csv")

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Contact us

If you have a specific enquiry about Absence as a percentage of possible sessions by band 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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