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Written question asked by Earl of Effingham (Conservative) on Friday, 17 July 2026, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Friday, 31 July 2026. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour) on Friday, 31 July 2026 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Pupils: Absenteeism

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government how many pupils were persistently absent from school in England for each academic year from 2018–19 to date.

Answer

The department publishes figures from the school census on pupil absence in England. The latest data covers the academic year 2024/25 and is available on GOV.UK.

Published data for the percentage of pupils classified as persistent absentees (defined as missing 10% or more of possible sessions) since the 2018/19 academic year is shown below.

Persistent absence rate

Number of persistent absentees

2018/19

10.86%

771,863

2019/20

-

-

2020/21

12.08%

872,438

2021/22

22.51%

1,643,876

2022/23

21.22%

1,569,303

2023/24

19.95%

1,487,022

2024/25

18.14%

1,340,437

Source: School Census

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
HL2249
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Absenteeism Pupils Schools
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk