This data may be out of date — the source may have published a newer figure.
Check Department for Education →
Historical trend
Trend summary
Overall school absence in England was 7.5% of possible sessions in 2023–24, down from 7.7% in 2022–23 but above pre-pandemic levels.
Trend
- Overall absence was around 4.7% in 2018–19; it rose to 7.7% in 2022–23 before declining slightly in 2023–24.
- Persistent absence (missing 10% or more of sessions) affected 21.2% of pupils in 2023–24, also elevated above pre-pandemic levels.
- Illness is the most common authorised absence reason; unauthorised absence (including unknown reasons) has risen since 2019.
Context
- DfE publishes school absence statistics annually for state-funded schools in England; they cover autumn, spring, and summer terms.
- Absence figures for 2019–20 and 2020–21 are not comparable with other years owing to partial school closures during COVID-19.
Trend summary generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 on 22 March 2024. Contains no editorial judgement — describes direction, magnitude, and official projections only.
About this indicator
- Source
- Department for Education
- Update frequency
- Annual
- Last updated
- 21 March 2024 Data may be out of date
- Licence
- OGL v3
- Rising trend is…
- Negative
Statistics
- Latest
- 6.1 %
- Period high
- 6.1
- Period low
- 4.8
- Period average
- 5.4