Parliamentary Search

Written question asked by David Ruffley (Conservative) on Monday, 11 March 2013, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 13 March 2013. It was answered by Elizabeth Truss (Conservative) on Wednesday, 17 April 2013 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Truancy

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many days were missed due to unauthorised absence from maintained mainstream schools in (a) Bury St Edmunds constituency, (b) Suffolk and (c) England in each of the last three years.

[148100]

Answer

Information on unauthorised absence from 2008/09 to 2010/11 is shown in the following table.

State-funded primary and secondary schools1, 2, 3: Unauthorised absence rates and days missed—Academic years 2008/09 to 2010/11—England, Suffolk local authority and Bury St Edmunds parliamentary constituency
2008/09
State-funded primary schools1, 2
 State-funded secondary schools1, 3
 Total
Days missed due to unauthorised absence4
 Unauthorised absence rate5
 Days missed due to unauthorised absence4
 Unauthorised absence rate5
 Days missed due to unauthorised absence4
 Unauthorised absence rate5
England
 3,178,660
 0.6
 6,501,070
 1.5
 9,679,730
 1.0
Suffolk local authority
 34,910
 0.7
 86,750
 1.2
 121,650
 1.0
Bury St Edmunds constituency
 3,470
 0.5
 13,610
 0.9
 17,080
 0.8
2009/10
State-funded primary schools1, 2
 State-funded secondary schools1, 3
 Total
Days missed due to unauthorised absence4
 Unauthorised absence rate5
 Days missed due to unauthorised absence4
 Unauthorised absence rate5
 Days missed due to unauthorised absence4
 Unauthorised absence rate5
England
 3,332,700
 0.7
 6,297,870
 1.4
 9,630,580
 1.0
Suffolk local authority
 35,080
 0.7
 79,430
 1.1
 114,510
 0.9
Bury St Edmunds constituency
 3,640
 0.5
 10,660
 0.7
 14,300
 0.7
2010/11
State-funded primary schools1, 2
 State-funded secondary schools1, 3
 Total
Days missed due to unauthorised absence4
 Unauthorised absence rate5
 Days missed due to unauthorised absence4
 Unauthorised absence rate5
 Days missed due to unauthorised absence4
 Unauthorised absence rate5
England
 3,543,500
 0.7
 6,236,370
 1.4
 9,779,870
 1.1
Suffolk local authority
 39,270
 0.7
 81,970
 1.2
 121,230
 1.0
Bury St Edmunds constituency
 4,010
 0.6
 12,150
 0.8
 16,160
 0.7
1 Includes middle schools as deemed.
2 Includes primary academies.
3 Includes city technology colleges and secondary academies.
4 Number of sessions missed due to unauthorised absence divided by two.
5 The number of sessions missed due to unauthorised absence expressed as a percentage of the total number of possible sessions.
Note:
Number of days missed has been rounded to the nearest 10.
Source:
School Census

The latest data on absence, for the school year, is published as Statistical First Release 04/2012 'Pupil Absence in Schools in England, Including Pupil Characteristics: 2010/11' at:

http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/allstatistics/a00206150/pupil-absence-schools-2010-2011

'Pupil Absence in Schools in England, Including Pupil Characteristics: 2011/12' was published on 19 March 2013 at:

http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/a00221993/pupil-absence-eng-charact

Copies of these reports will be placed in the House Libraries.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
148100; 561 cc484-6W
Session
2012-13
Subjects
Schools Truancy
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk