Data set from Pupil absence in schools in England

Absence rates by characteristic and local authority district

Not the latest data

Published 16 March 2023

Last updated 16 March 2023

Absence information by local authority district. Includes FSM eligible and FSM6 eligible breakdowns.

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Data set details

• Theme: Pupils and schools
• Publication: Pupil absence in schools in England
• Release: Academic year 2021/22
• Number of rows: 25,402
• Geographic levels: Local authority district
• Indicators:
  • Authorised absence rate
  • Authorised absence rate exact
  • Number of authorised absence sessions
  • Number of authorised absence sessions for persistent absentees
  • Number of authorised holiday sessions
  • Number of authorised other sessions
  • Number of authorised reasons sessions
  • Number of excluded sessions
  • Number of illness sessions
  • Number of late sessions
  • Number of medical appointments sessions
  • Number of no reason yet sessions
  • Number of overall absence sessions
  • Number of overall absence sessions for persistent absentees
  • Number of overall reasons sessions
  • Number of persistent absentees
  • Number of pupil enrolments
  • Number of religious observance sessions
  • Number of sessions possible
  • Number of sessions possible for persistent absentees
  • Number of sessions recorded as exceptional circumstances
  • Number of sessions recorded as not attending due to COVID circumstances
  • Number of study leave sessions
  • Number of traveller sessions
  • Number of unauthorised absence sessions
  • Number of unauthorised absence sessions for persistent absentees
  • Number of unauthorised holiday sessions
  • Number of unauthorised other sessions
  • Number of unauthorised reasons sessions
  • Overall absence rate
  • Overall absence rate exact
  • Percentage of persistent absentees
  • Rate of sessions recorded as not attending due to COVID circumstances
  • Unauthorised absence rate
  • Unauthorised absence rate exact
• Filters:
  • Characteristic
  • School type
• Time period: 2018/19 to 2021/22

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Data set preview

Table showing first 5 rows, from underlying data

time_identifier	year_breakdown	time_period	geographic_level	country_code	country_name	region_code	region_name	la_code	lad_code	lad_name	school_type	characteristic_group	characteristic	enrolments	sess_possible	sess_overall	sess_authorised	sess_unauthorised	sess_overall_percent	sess_authorised_percent	sess_unauthorised_percent	enrolments_pa_10_exact	enrolments_pa_10_exact_percent	sess_possible_pa_10_exact	sess_overall_pa_10_exact	sess_authorised_pa_10_exact	sess_unauthorised_pa_10_exact	sess_overall_percent_pa_10_exact	sess_authorised_percent_pa_10_exact	sess_unauthorised_percent_pa_10_exact	sess_auth_illness	sess_auth_appointments	sess_auth_religious	sess_auth_study	sess_auth_traveller	sess_auth_holiday	sess_auth_excluded	sess_auth_other	sess_auth_totalreasons	sess_unauth_holiday	sess_unauth_late	sess_unauth_other	sess_unauth_noyet	sess_unauth_totalreasons	sess_overall_totalreasons	sess_x_covid	sess_y_exceptional	sess_x_covid_rate
Academic year	Six half terms	202122	Local authority district	E92000001	England	E13000001	Inner London	201	E09000001	City of London	Total	FSM	FSM Not eligible	175	64282	2480	1887	593	3.858	2.9355	0.9225	11	6.28571	3774	471	343	128	12.48013	9.0885	3.39163	1614	106	6	0	0	0	0	161	1887	0	6	557	30	593	2480	26	114	0.0404467813695902
Academic year	Six half terms	202122	Local authority district	E92000001	England	E13000001	Inner London	201	E09000001	City of London	Total	FSM	FSM eligible	34	12712	803	612	191	6.31687	4.81435	1.50252	10	29.41176	3766	465	335	130	12.34732	8.89538	3.45194	538	49	2	0	1	0	0	22	612	0	2	185	4	191	803	0	10	0
Academic year	Six half terms	202122	Local authority district	E92000001	England	E13000001	Inner London	201	E09000001	City of London	Total	FSM ever 6	FSM not eligible in last 6 years	162	60228	2249	1726	523	3.73414	2.86578	0.86837	9	5.55556	3228	400	312	88	12.39157	9.66543	2.72615	1489	96	6	0	0	0	0	135	1726	0	6	489	28	523	2249	0	108	0
Academic year	Six half terms	202122	Local authority district	E92000001	England	E13000001	Inner London	201	E09000001	City of London	Total	FSM ever 6	FSM eligible in last 6 years	46	16744	1034	773	261	6.17535	4.61658	1.55877	12	26.08696	4312	536	366	170	12.43043	8.48794	3.94249	663	59	2	0	1	0	0	48	773	0	2	253	6	261	1034	10	16	0.0597228858098423
Academic year	Six half terms	202122	Local authority district	E92000001	England	E13000001	Inner London	201	E09000001	City of London	Total	FSM ever 6	FSM unclassified in last 6 years	1	22	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	16	0	72.7272727272727

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Variables in this data set

Table showing all 37 variables

Variable name	Variable description
characteristic	Characteristic - Filter by pupil characteristic
enrolments	Number of pupil enrolments
enrolments_pa_10_exact	Number of persistent absentees
enrolments_pa_10_exact_percent	Percentage of persistent absentees
school_type	School type - Filter by school type
sess_auth_appointments	Number of medical appointments sessions
sess_auth_excluded	Number of excluded sessions
sess_auth_holiday	Number of authorised holiday sessions
sess_auth_illness	Number of illness sessions
sess_auth_other	Number of authorised other sessions
sess_auth_religious	Number of religious observance sessions
sess_auth_study	Number of study leave sessions
sess_auth_totalreasons	Number of authorised reasons sessions
sess_auth_traveller	Number of traveller sessions
sess_authorised	Number of authorised absence sessions
sess_authorised_pa_10_exact	Number of authorised absence sessions for persistent absentees
sess_authorised_percent	Authorised absence rate
sess_authorised_percent_pa_10_exact	Authorised absence rate exact
sess_overall	Number of overall absence sessions
sess_overall_pa_10_exact	Number of overall absence sessions for persistent absentees
sess_overall_percent	Overall absence rate
sess_overall_percent_pa_10_exact	Overall absence rate exact
sess_overall_totalreasons	Number of overall reasons sessions
sess_possible	Number of sessions possible
sess_possible_pa_10_exact	Number of sessions possible for persistent absentees
sess_unauth_holiday	Number of unauthorised holiday sessions
sess_unauth_late	Number of late sessions
sess_unauth_noyet	Number of no reason yet sessions
sess_unauth_other	Number of unauthorised other sessions
sess_unauth_totalreasons	Number of unauthorised reasons sessions
sess_unauthorised	Number of unauthorised absence sessions
sess_unauthorised_pa_10_exact	Number of unauthorised absence sessions for persistent absentees
sess_unauthorised_percent	Unauthorised absence rate
sess_unauthorised_percent_pa_10_exact	Unauthorised absence rate exact
sess_x_covid	Number of sessions recorded as not attending due to COVID circumstances
sess_x_covid_rate	Rate of sessions recorded as not attending due to COVID circumstances
sess_y_exceptional	Number of sessions recorded as exceptional circumstances

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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.

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Contact us

If you have a specific enquiry about Absence rates by characteristic and local authority district 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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