Truancy Michael Gove To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what percentage of (a) male and (b) female (i) free school meal and (ii) non-free school meal pupils have been classed as persistent absentees in each of the last three years. Sarah McCarthy-Fry Information enabling analysis of pupil enrolments classed as persistent absentees was collected for the first time for the school year 2005/06. The requested information for 2005/06 and 2006/07 is shown in the following tables: ------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Persistent absentees | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | |2006/07 | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Boys |Girls| ------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Eligible for free school meals|Other pupils5|Eligible for free school meals|Other pupils5| ------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Number of enrolments |Percentage of enrolments6|Number of enrolments|Percentage of enrolments6|Number of enrolments|Percentage of enrolments6|Number of enrolments|Percentage of enrolments6| ------------------------------------------------------------------- |Primary schools1 |13,960 |4.77|18,240|1.24|12,600|4.46|16,170|1.15| ------------------------------------------------------------------- |State funded secondary schools1, 2|32,370 |14.82|67,010|5.05|33,040|15.39|70,750|5.51| ------------------------------------------------------------------- |Special schools3 |2,880 |16.20|3,790|10.32|920|13.27|1,230|7.80| ------------------------------------------------------------------- |Total |49,210 |9.31|89,040|3.14|46,560|9.23|88,150|3.25| ------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Boys |Girls | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Eligible for free school meals|Other pupils5 |Eligible for free school meals|Other pupils5| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Number of enrolments |Percentage of enrolments6|Number of enrolments|Percentage of enrolments6|Number of enrolments|Percentage of enrolments6|Number of enrolments|Percentage of enrolments6| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Primary schools1 |n/a |n/a |n/a|n/a|n/a|n/a|n/a|n/a| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |State funded secondary schools1, 2 |35,480 |15.85 |71,610|5.40|35,650|16.21|74,650|5.81| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Special schools3 |n/a |n/a |n/a|n/a|n/a|n/a|n/a|n/a| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Total |8— |8— |8—|8—|8—|8—|8—|8—| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |1 Includes middle schools as deemed.2 Includes CTCs and academies.3 Includes both maintained and non-maintained special schools.4 Persistent absentees are defined as being absent for 20 per cent. of all sessions of attendance, this relates to being absent for more than 63 half days.5 Includes pupil enrolments for whom free school meal eligibility was missing.6 The number of persistent absentees expressed as a percentage of pupil enrolments with the same gender and free school meal eligibility.7 Information for 2005/06 is not available for primary or special schools.8 Not applicable.Note:Numbers have been rounded to the neatest 10.Source:School Census| | | 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