Attendance of pupils in maintained schools: 5 September 2022 to 24 July 2023

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

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.

The GCSE examination period started in Wales on 15 May 2023. From this point on many pupils will be granted study leave to prepare for and take their examinations. Study leave is defined as an authorised absence and will therefore lead to lower levels of attendance, both overall and for pupils in the examination year groups.

Most schools closed to pupils on Friday 21 July and the data in this release is up to this point. There were some schools open to pupils on Monday 24 July however this data is not included.

This is the last release for the 2022/23 school year.

Main points

Overall absence

• The average attendance for this academic year to date is 88.5%.
• The latest week is 17 to 21 July. The last week is the 10 to 14 July.
• An average of 80.4% of half-day school sessions were recorded as present for pupils aged 5 to 15 over the latest week, down from 84.2% the week before. Data for the latest week is provisional.
• An average of 10.7% of half-day school sessions were recorded as authorised absence for pupils aged 5 to 15 over the latest week, up from 10.3% the week before.
• An average of 8.8% of half-day school sessions were recorded as unauthorised absence for pupils aged 5 to 15 over the latest week, up from 5.4% the week before.
• There has been a small difference in the attendance rate by gender for the academic year to date, 88.7% for boys and 88.4% for girls.
• The attendance rate by year group for the academic year to date has been highest for pupils in Years 3 and 4 (91.7%) and lowest for pupils in Year 11 (76.4%).
• The attendance rate for the academic year to date has been higher for pupils not eligible for free school meals (90.4%) than pupils who are eligible for free school meals (83.1%).
• The most common reason for absence for the academic year to date has been illness, with 42.7% of sessions missed being for this reason.

Persistent absence

• 18.1% of pupils have been absent for 61 sessions (30.5 days) or more.
• 34.0% of pupils who are eligible for free school meals have been absent for 61 sessions (30.5 days) or more.
• 18.8% of boys and 20.0% of girls have been absent for 61 sessions (30.5 days) or more.

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.

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".

Pupils who were not able to attend school due to the industrial action on Wednesday 1 February or 2 March 2023 should have been recorded in the attendance register using codes “Y” (not required to attend) or “#” (school closed to all pupils). Pupils recorded using one of these codes are not included in the calculation of attendance or absence rates and would therefore have no impact on the figures contained in this release.

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.