Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an estimate of the number of sick days that were taken by pupils due to mental health illness in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in England in the period between September 2021 and August 2022.

The Department does not collect data on sickness absence due to mental health illness of pupils.

Data on children who are absent because of illness overall is included in the publication on pupil absence in schools in England, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england.

Attendance guidance makes clear that schools must record absences as authorised where pupils cannot attend due to illness (both physical and mental health related).