Data set from Pupil absence in schools in England

Absence by pupil ethnicity and FSM eligibility

Not the latest data

Published 26 March 2026

Last updated 26 March 2026

Absence information for full academic years by both pupil ethnicity and free school meal (FSM) eligibility.

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Data set details

• Theme: Pupils and schools
• Publication: Pupil absence in schools in England
• Release: Academic year 2024/25
• Number of rows: 639
• Geographic levels: National
• Indicators:
  • Percentage of absence sessions
  • Percentage of persistent absentees (10% or more missed)
  • Percentage of severe absentees (50% or more missed)
  • Number of pupil enrolments
  • Number of sessions possible
  • Number of overall absence sessions
  • Number of persistent absentees (10% or more missed)
  • Number of sessions possible for persistent absentees (10% or more missed)
  • Number of overall absence sessions for persistent absentees (10% or more missed)
  • Number of severe absentees (50% or more missed)
• Filters:
  • Ethnicity Minor
  • FSM eligibility
  • School type
• Time period: 2023/24 to 2024/25

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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	fsm	ethnicity_minor	enrolments	sess_possible	sess_overall	sess_overall_percent	enrolments_pa_10_exact	enrolments_pa_10_exact_percent	enrolments_pa_50_exact	enrolments_pa_50_exact_percent	sess_possible_pa_10_exact	sess_overall_pa_10_exact
202425	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	Special	FSM eligible	African	3527	1249693	116876	9.35238	986	27.95577	106	3.00539	339674	79692
202425	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	Special	FSM not eligible	African	3266	1146725	96068	8.3776	760	23.27006	103	3.1537	254823	62745
202425	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	Special	FSM unclassified	African	43	479	251	52.40084	22	51.16279	21	48.83721	279	249
202425	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	Special	Total	African	6836	2396897	213195	8.89463	1768	25.86308	230	3.36454	594776	142686
202425	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	Special	FSM eligible	Any other Asian background	956	341082	38976	11.42716	344	35.98326	31	3.24268	122613	28830

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Variables in this data set

Table showing all 13 variables

Variable name	Variable description
education_phase	School type - Filter by school type - Total includes primary, secondary and special
enrolments	Number of pupil enrolments
enrolments_pa_10_exact	Number of persistent absentees (10% or more missed)
enrolments_pa_10_exact_percent	Percentage of persistent absentees (10% or more missed)
enrolments_pa_50_exact	Number of severe absentees (50% or more missed)
enrolments_pa_50_exact_percent	Percentage of severe absentees (50% or more missed)
ethnicity_minor	Ethnicity Minor
fsm	FSM eligibility
sess_overall	Number of overall absence sessions
sess_overall_pa_10_exact	Number of overall absence sessions for persistent absentees (10% or more missed)
sess_overall_percent	Percentage of absence sessions
sess_possible	Number of sessions possible
sess_possible_pa_10_exact	Number of sessions possible for persistent absentees (10% or more missed)

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Footnotes

1. Total includes state-funded primary, state-funded secondary and special schools.
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.

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Using this data

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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/26adfbe5-cfb5-40d9-bfa8-bdfe85995b34/csv")

R

read.csv("https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-catalogue/data-set/26adfbe5-cfb5-40d9-bfa8-bdfe85995b34/csv")

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Contact us

If you have a specific enquiry about Absence by pupil ethnicity and FSM eligibility 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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