Overall absence rates fell in the last academic year, with big improvements in the number of pupils classed as “persistently absent”.
However the number of youngsters missing more than half of their classes – known as ‘severe absence’ – rose in the autumn term.
The Department for Education said children across England are returning to school in record numbers, lauding the “biggest year-on-year improvement in attendance for a decade”.
But experts have warned the figures show the school absence crisis could become “entrenched” and that “far too many young people are still persistently absent”.
Overall and persistent absence down – but severe absence up in autumn
New data published by the DfE on attendance in the 2024-25 academic year shows an overall absence rate of 6.9 per cent, 0.3 per cent lower than the last academic year (7.1 per cent).
The rate of persistent absence – pupils who miss 10 per cent or more of their possible sessions – was 18.7 per cent, down from 20.0 per cent last year.
But severe absence rates have seen a minor increase from 1.97 per cent in autumn 2023-24 to 2.04 per cent this autumn term. There were no figures for severe absence over the whole academic year.
FSM and SEN children still more absent
The rate of overall absence for pupils eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) was nearly two times the rate of their non-FSM peers (10.6 per cent vs 5.4 per cent) in 2024-25.
Thirty-three per cent of FSM-eligible pupils were persistently absent in the 2024-25 academic year, compared to 13.4 per cent of pupils who were not eligible. But the number of FSM students persistently absent has fallen from 35.7 per cent in 2023-24.
The overall absence rate for pupils with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan was 13.7 per cent in the 2024-25 academic year. This compares to 10.6 per cent for pupils with SEN support and 6.0 per cent with no identified SEN.
36.9 per cent of pupils with an EHC plan were persistently absent this year, a reduction from 37.6 per cent in 2023-24. This is more than double than 16.5 per cent for pupils with no identified SEN.
Female and male pupils had nearly the exact same absence rate – with a 6.9 per cent rate for female pupils and 6.8 per cent for male pupils.
Over the autumn term, severe absence decreased slightly for FSM eligible pupils, although they remain three and a half times more likely to be severe absentees than their non-FSM peers (3.56 per cent vs. 0.99 per cent).
‘Biggest improvement in a decade’
The DfE said the rise in overall attendance numbers had helped save teachers more than 10,000 days that would have been spent helping absent pupils catch up.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson added: “When we tackle attendance head-on, everyone benefits – pupils get the consistent education they deserve, teachers can focus on driving up standards, and we build the stronger workforce our economy needs.”
But Beth Prescott, education lead at the Centre for Social Justice, said classroom absences “can no longer be viewed as a post-pandemic blip”, and the issue “is becoming deeply entrenched”.
“With the crisis deepening we need to attack the root causes of school absence, including softening parental attitudes to attendance and an education system that fails to engage thousands of young people,” Prescott said.
Impetus senior policy advisor Dr Carlie Goldsmith said the figures show “far too many young people are still persistently absent”.
The charity warned that if left unaddressed, current absence rates could see more than 500,000 pupils fail their GCSEs in the next five years.
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