[holding answer 21 June 2006]: The percentage of half days missed due to unauthorised absence in maintained mainstream schools in (a) Bury St. Edmunds constituency, (b) Suffolk and (c) England in each year since 1997/98 is shown as follows.
Bury St. Edmunds constituency Suffolk local authority England 1997/98 0.1 0.2 0.5 1998/99 0.1 0.2 0.5 1999/2000 0.1 0.2 0.5 2000/01 0.1 0.2 0.5 2001/02 0.2 0.26 0.45 2002/03 0.2 0.25 0.43 2003/04 0.2 0.27 0.41 2004/05 0.2 0.31 0.43
Bury St. Edmunds constituency Suffolk local authority England 1997/98 0.3 0.5 1.1 1998/99 0.2 0.5 1.1 1999/2000 0.3 0.6 1.0 2000/01 0.3 0.6 1.1 2001/02 0.4 0.89 1.09 2002/03 0.7 1.08 1.07 2003/04 0.8 1.32 1.13 2004/05 0.8 1.29 1.23 1 Includes middle schools as deemed. 2 Due to local government reorganisation, regional figures are not available prior to 1998. 3 Local authority figures are only available to 1 decimal place prior to 2000. Constituency level figures are only provided to 1 decimal place. Note: Unauthorised absence is absence without leave from a teacher or other authorised representative of the school. This includes all unexplained or unjustified absences, such as lateness, holidays during term time not authorised by the school, absence where reason is not yet established and truancy.
Figures for unauthorised absence from schools in 2005/06 are not yet available. The percentage of pupils who missed at least one session due to unauthorised absence in primary and secondary schools in (a) Torbay local authority and (b) England in 2004/05 are shown as follows.
Torbay local authority England Number of day pupils of compulsory school age 8,757 3,565,048 Number of pupils who missed at least one session due to unauthorised absence 1,235 583,859 Percentage of pupils who missed at least one session due to unauthorised absence 14 16
Torbay local authority England Number of day pupils of compulsory school age 7,868 3,037,013 Number of pupils who missed at least one session due to unauthorised absence 3,078 774,347 Percentage of pupils who missed at least one session due to unauthorised absence 39 25 1 Includes middle schools as deemed. Note: Unauthorised absence is absence without leave from a teacher or other authorised representative of the school. This includes all unexplained or unjustified absences, such as lateness, holidays during term time not authorised by the school, absence where reason is not yet established and truancy.