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Written question asked by Dan Norris (Independent (affiliation)) on Friday, 10 July 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 14 July 2026. It was answered by Paul Waugh (Labour) on Tuesday, 4 August 2026 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Pupils: Absenteeism

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of persistent absence in schools in South Gloucestershire and Bath and North East Somerset.

Answer

Absence is a key barrier to opportunity. For children to achieve and thrive they need to be in school. The department is committed to improving the attendance of all pupils. Thanks to the efforts of the sector, we saw record improvements in 2024/25 with around 150,000 fewer children persistently absent nationally.

The department publishes figures from the school census on pupil absence in England. The latest data covers the 2024/25 academic year and is published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england/2024-25.

Published data for the percentage of pupils classified as persistent absentees (defined as missing 10% or more of possible sessions) in schools in South Gloucestershire and Bath and North East Somerset since the 2018/19 academic year is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/87184f2c-0671-4abc-c9f4-08dee0eeb30d.

Full year absence statistics for 2019/20 were not published due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
17699
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Absenteeism Pupils South West
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk