Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2021 to Question 25811 on Pupils: Absenteeism, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a statutory obligation on local authorities to collate and submit data on student absenteeism to his Department.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It is a statutory requirement that all schools, including independent schools, have an admission register and, with the exception of schools where all pupils are boarders, an attendance register.
As the responsibility for collating and maintaining the attendance register sits with schools, and it would not be possible for local authorities to perform that function without first getting the data from schools, the statutory requirement to collate and submit data on student absenteeism to the Department also sits with schools.
Local authorities are granted full access to student absenteeism data provided by schools to the Department via the school census for all schools in their geographical area and, for local authority maintained schools, are asked to check and validate the data before it is accepted by the Department.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2021 to Question 25811, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a statutory obligation on local authorities to (a) collate and (b) submit data on student absenteeism to central Government.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It is a statutory requirement that all schools, including independent schools, have an admission register and, with the exception of schools where all pupils are boarders, an attendance register.
As the responsibility for collating and maintaining the attendance register sits with schools, and it would not be possible for local authorities to perform that function without first getting the data from schools, the statutory requirement to collate and submit data on student absenteeism to the Department also sits with schools.
Local authorities are granted full access to student absenteeism data provided by schools to the Department via the school census for all schools in their geographical area and, for local authority maintained schools, are asked to check and validate the data before it is accepted by the Department.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what definition of student absenteeism is used to record data on student absence.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Information relating to pupil absence in school is collected on a termly basis from schools via the school census. Completion of the school census is a statutory requirement under section 537A of the Education Act 1996. Guidance on what is collected on termly attendance, including the full list of absence reasons, can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/complete-the-school-census/data-items.
The overall absence rates for state-funded primary and secondary schools in England, by local authority, for academic years 2016/17 to 2018/19, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/99898173-7d81-4132-b9c7-9ef5695e425a.
The number of sessions of absence, by reason for absence, in state-funded primary and secondary schools, and special schools in England for academic years 2016/17 to 2018/19, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/35b2b378-982d-4220-a992-26c678bb3e18. A session refers to half a day.
Data is also published in the publication ‘Pupil absence in schools in England’, which gives information by academic years and is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england.
There are similar publications on absence in the autumn term, and absence in the autumn and spring terms. The latest release covering autumn term 2020 can be found at the following link: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term.
Information has also been collected daily on attendance in schools and nurseries during the COVID-19 outbreak, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a statutory obligation on local authorities to collate and submit data on student absenteeism to central Government.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Information relating to pupil absence in school is collected on a termly basis from schools via the school census. Completion of the school census is a statutory requirement under section 537A of the Education Act 1996. Guidance on what is collected on termly attendance, including the full list of absence reasons, can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/complete-the-school-census/data-items.
The overall absence rates for state-funded primary and secondary schools in England, by local authority, for academic years 2016/17 to 2018/19, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/99898173-7d81-4132-b9c7-9ef5695e425a.
The number of sessions of absence, by reason for absence, in state-funded primary and secondary schools, and special schools in England for academic years 2016/17 to 2018/19, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/35b2b378-982d-4220-a992-26c678bb3e18. A session refers to half a day.
Data is also published in the publication ‘Pupil absence in schools in England’, which gives information by academic years and is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england.
There are similar publications on absence in the autumn term, and absence in the autumn and spring terms. The latest release covering autumn term 2020 can be found at the following link: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term.
Information has also been collected daily on attendance in schools and nurseries during the COVID-19 outbreak, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on student absenteeism, by (a) number of school days absent and (b) reasons for absence in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Information relating to pupil absence in school is collected on a termly basis from schools via the school census. Completion of the school census is a statutory requirement under section 537A of the Education Act 1996. Guidance on what is collected on termly attendance, including the full list of absence reasons, can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/complete-the-school-census/data-items.
The overall absence rates for state-funded primary and secondary schools in England, by local authority, for academic years 2016/17 to 2018/19, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/99898173-7d81-4132-b9c7-9ef5695e425a.
The number of sessions of absence, by reason for absence, in state-funded primary and secondary schools, and special schools in England for academic years 2016/17 to 2018/19, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/35b2b378-982d-4220-a992-26c678bb3e18. A session refers to half a day.
Data is also published in the publication ‘Pupil absence in schools in England’, which gives information by academic years and is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england.
There are similar publications on absence in the autumn term, and absence in the autumn and spring terms. The latest release covering autumn term 2020 can be found at the following link: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term.
Information has also been collected daily on attendance in schools and nurseries during the COVID-19 outbreak, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on student absenteeism, by (a) primary school, (b) secondary school and (c) local authority in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Information relating to pupil absence in school is collected on a termly basis from schools via the school census. Completion of the school census is a statutory requirement under section 537A of the Education Act 1996. Guidance on what is collected on termly attendance, including the full list of absence reasons, can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/complete-the-school-census/data-items.
The overall absence rates for state-funded primary and secondary schools in England, by local authority, for academic years 2016/17 to 2018/19, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/99898173-7d81-4132-b9c7-9ef5695e425a.
The number of sessions of absence, by reason for absence, in state-funded primary and secondary schools, and special schools in England for academic years 2016/17 to 2018/19, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/35b2b378-982d-4220-a992-26c678bb3e18. A session refers to half a day.
Data is also published in the publication ‘Pupil absence in schools in England’, which gives information by academic years and is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england.
There are similar publications on absence in the autumn term, and absence in the autumn and spring terms. The latest release covering autumn term 2020 can be found at the following link: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term.
Information has also been collected daily on attendance in schools and nurseries during the COVID-19 outbreak, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.