Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of school attendance by (a) pupils who receive free school meals and (b) other pupils.

Improving attendance remains a priority for the Department. The Department is implementing a comprehensive attendance strategy, to ensure that absence is minimised and rates are returned to pre pandemic levels as soon as possible.

Absence data from the School Census is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england.

Data showing the overall absence rate in England and Gloucestershire in the combined autumn and spring terms from 2018/19 to 2022/23 is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/8e7082d1-d935-476b-48d8-08dbdfb23d99.

Data showing the overall absence rates for pupils with Free School Meals and those not eligible is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/26b94e77-f63c-4287-48d9-08dbdfb23d99.