Attendance of pupils in maintained schools: 5 to 9 September 2022

This headline presents information on the attendance of pupils in schools during the current academic year. This is the first publication of the academic year.

The 2022/23 academic year began on 1 September 2022. Most schools had no pupils in attendance on 1 to 2 September 2022 due to INSET days. Therefore, this headline presents data from 5 September 2022 onwards.

All data in this headline is based on the definition of attendance that was in use and published before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The data here are not comparable with the data published during the pandemic for 2020/21 and 2021/22. For more details see the quality section below and accompanying spreadsheet.

Main points

• An average of 94.7% of half-day school sessions were recorded as present for pupils aged 5 to 15 over the week of 5 to 9 September 2022. Data for the latest week is provisional.
• An average of 2.8% of half-day school sessions were recorded as authorised absence and 2.5% as unauthorised absence for pupils aged 5 to 15 over the week of 5 to 9 September 2022.

Future analysis

We will add comparisons to attendance before the pandemic, tables on absence by pupil characteristics including gender, age and free school meal eligibility and tables on persistent absence over the coming weeks as more data becomes available and is finalised.

Quality

This data is management information extracted from school management information systems once a week. This data has not undergone the same level of quality assurance as official statistics and the data may be subject to future revisions. The figures for the latest two weeks should be treated as provisional. Earlier figures are final and are not subject to change.

All data in this headline is based on the definition of attendance that was in use and published before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The data here are not comparable with the data published during the pandemic for 2020/21 and 2021/22.

The main differences in definitions

• Data is presented as the percentage of half day sessions missed instead of the percentage of pupils absent.
• Data is for pupils of statutory school age only (aged 5 to 15) instead of data for all ages.
• Data is for pupils in primary, middle, secondary and special schools only and does not include data for nursery schools or pupil referral units.
• Code Y (partial and forced closure) is now counted as "not required to attend" rather than 'absent'. 

Comparability

All 4 nations are publishing regular data on attendance in school. We do not advise making comparisons between the nations due to differences in data collection methods, presentation and definitions.

National Statistics status

These statistics are not National Statistics and have been produced quickly in response to developing national and local events.