Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children with SEND are (a) persistently and (b) severely absent from school in Blackpool South constituency.
Information on pupil absence, including breakdowns by pupil characteristics, is published in the ‘Pupil absence in schools in England’ national statistic. This publication for the latest full academic year, 2021/22, is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england/2021-22.
A pupil is classified as persistently absent if they miss 10% or more of their own possible sessions. A pupil is classified as severely absent if they miss 50% or more of their possible sessions.
The table below shows the numbers and rates of persistently absent and severely absent pupils in Blackpool South parliamentary constituency by Special Educational Need (SEN) status for the latest full academic year available, 2021/22.
| Persistent absentees | Persistent absentee % | Severe absentees | Severe absentee % |
SEN Support1 | 554 | 33.5 | 34 | 2.1 |
Statement or EHCP2 | 189 | 32.6 | 18 | 3.1 |
Source: School Census.
1 Special Educational Need
2 Education, Health and Care Plan.
This table excludes a small number of pupils with unclassified SEN status.