attendance | Schools Week

What does the latest attendance data tell us about the scale of the Covid problem?

The government must make better data available and provide more catch-up funding to stop pupils falling further behind, writes Natalie Perera. The question over how we support recovery of the education system post-Covid looms large for policy-makers, researchers and those on the front line. The reality is that we are all trying to find solutions […]

Covid: 1 in 10 pupils now absent as attendance drops again

Around one in ten pupils are now absent from school for Covid-related reasons after attendance slumped to 83 per cent. The latest attendance data from the Department for Education shows that up to 876,000 pupils – between 9 and 11 per cent of the total population – did not attend school for Covid-19 related reasons […]

Teacher absence spike forces ‘tipping point’ closures

Schools are being forced to shut their doors as the numbers of teachers forced into isolation pushes them past the “tipping point”. A survey by Teacher Tapp has found the number of teachers reporting they are isolating due to Covid jumped to eight per cent this week – around double that reported before half-term. When […]

What new Datalab analysis tells us about Covid and school attendance

Pupils in the some of the poorest areas of the country are missing out on schooling the most, according to new analysis. FFT Education Datalab’s work follows research by the Education Policy Institute this week which prompted concerns that pupils in some parts of the country are more likely to be left behind. Here, we […]

Coronavirus: Attendance rates vary hugely across England, finds EPI report

School attendance rates vary hugely across England, new research has found, prompting concerns that pupils in some parts of the country are more likely to be left behind. Analysis by the Education Policy Institute found that secondary school attendance rates in October ranged from 61 per cent in Knowsley in the north west to 94 […]

DfE closes covid attendance loophole 6 weeks into term

The government has closed an attendance reporting loophole six weeks into term that left officials “unable to get a grip” on the true scale of the pandemic’s disruption in schools. Thousands of absences may have been missed. Since Monday, all schools have been asked to provide data on Covid-19-related absences, using the Department for Education’s […]

Coronavirus: Almost 1 in 10 schools now partially closed

Almost one in ten schools in England was partially closed as of last week, new government data shows. Attendance statistics published by the Department for Education show the proportion of state schools that were fully open fell to 90.8 per cent as of last Thursday, down from 92.4 per cent the week before. Eight per […]

More schools partially closed, but attendance rises

The proportion of schools fully open to all pupils has fallen again, Department for Education analysis shows, but more pupils are attending school. According to new attendance data published today, 92 per cent of state schools were fully open as of last Thursday, down from 93 per cent the previous week. It means 8 per […]

Coronavirus: Nearly one in six secondaries not fully open, DfE data suggests

Around 1,500 schools have now been forced to partially close, with as many as one in six secondary schools not open to all pupils, new government figures show. According to the Department for Education’s latest school attendance survey data, 84 per cent of state-funded secondary schools were fully-open to all pupils as of last Thursday, […]