The available information, on persistent absentees, is shown in the tables. These cover both authorised and unauthorised absence. 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.
Maintained primary1, state funded secondary1, 2 and special3 schools: Number of schools placed in special measures by the percentage of persistent absentees4, 5, Year: 2007/08, Coverage: EnglandNumber of schools in special measuresPercentage of school enrolments who are Persistent Absentees6, 7:TotalPrimarySecondarySpecialMore than 5%121396715More than 10%3932313More than 15%190712more than 20%10028More than 25%8008More than 30%8008More than 35%8008More than 40%7007More than 45%6006More than 50%4004More than 60%2002More than 75%0000Total number of schools in special measures83802838116 1 Includes middle schools as deemed.2 Includes maintained secondary schools, city technology colleges and academies (including all-through academies).3 Includes maintained and non-maintained special schools. Excludes general hospital schools.4 Includes schools with at least one enrolment aged between 5 and 15.5 Persistent Absentees are defined as having 64 or more sessions of absence (authorised and unauthorised) during the year, typically over 20 per cent. overall absence rate.6 The number of Persistent Absentees expressed as a percentage of the total number of enrolments.7 Those schools counted in the ‘more than 60%’ category are also counted in all the lower categories. Similarly, for schools in the ‘more than 50%’ category, and all lower categories.8 The total number of schools includes two schools (one primary and one special) that did not return absence data.Source:School Census
Number of schools in special measures Percentage of school enrolments who are Persistent Absentees6, 7: Total Primary Secondary Special More than 5% 123 30 80 13 More than 10% 58 0 46 12 More than 15% 24 0 12 12 More than 20% 15 0 3 12 More than 25% 13 0 1 12 More than 30% 10 0 0 10 More than 35% 9 0 0 9 More than 40% 7 0 0 7 More than 45% 7 0 0 7 More than 50% 6 0 0 6 More than 60% 2 0 0 2 More than 75% 0 0 0 0 Total number of schools in special measures8 375 274 84 17 1 Includes middle schools as deemed. 2 Includes maintained secondary schools, city technology colleges and academies (including all—through academies). 3 Includes maintained and non-maintained special schools. Excludes general hospital schools. 4 Includes schools with at least one enrolment aged between 5 and 15. 5 Persistent Absentees are defined as having 64 or more sessions of absence (authorised and unauthorised) during the year, typically over 20 per cent. overall absence rate. 6 The number of Persistent Absentees expressed as a percentage of the total number of enrolments. 7 Those schools counted in the ‘more than 60%’ category are also counted in all the lower categories. Similarly, for schools in the ‘more than 50%’ category, and all lower categories. 8 The total number of schools includes five schools (three primary and two special) that did not return absence data. Source: School Census