Absenteeism from schools by pupil characteristics: September 2016 to August 2017

Main points

• In 2016/17, the percentage of persistent absentees in Wales has remained the same as in 2015/16 at 1.55 in primary schools, and increased by 0.1 percentage points from 3.9% to 4.0% in secondary schools.
• Carmarthenshire had the highest percentage of persistent absentees from primary schools in 2016/17.
• Caerphilly had the highest percentage of persistent absentees from secondary schools in 2016/17.
• 36.3% of persistent absentees’ absence in mainstream primary schools was for unauthorised reasons in 2016/17, compared to 22.1% for all pupils.
• 48.5% of persistent absentees’ absence in mainstream secondary schools was unauthorised in 2016/17, whereas 24.0% of all pupils’ absence was unauthorised.
• Illness, medical/dental appointments and family holidays were less common as reasons for absence among persistent absentees than all pupils.
• Persistent absenteeism was more common among pupils entitled to free school meals or with special educational needs.
• Overall absence rates were also higher among pupils entitled to free school meals or with special educational needs.

Notes

Quality information for the latest release can be found in the Excel spreadsheet.

Please be aware that the way in which pupils’ special educational needs are collected and recorded differs from previous years and so the figures are not directly comparable.