More than 170,000 children in England missed at least half their school lessons last year, which is a record high, government figures suggest.
This amounts to 2.3% of pupils who were “severely absent”, which means they missed at least 50% of possible classes, in 2023-24 compared with 2.0% in 2022-23.
Overall, 171,269 pupils were classed as severely absent in the last academic year, up from 150,256 in 2022-23, the Department for Education (DfE) data showed.
It is the highest number recorded since the current DfE data began in 2006-07. In 2018-19, the last academic year before the Covid-19 pandemic, 60,247 were classed as severely absent.
And the unauthorised absence rate rose from 2.4% in 2022-23 to 2.5% in 2023-24, according to the figures. In 2018-19, the rate was only 1.4%.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “We need to accept that schools cannot solve this issue on their own and must set out clear expectations and plans for parents, government, schools and other agencies to work together in the best interests of young people.
“This must be backed with funding to ensure there is sufficient capacity in the system for all children to get any additional support they require to be able to attend school on a regular basis.
“Without investing in a strategic response to this issue, it is difficult to see how attendance rates are going to change at the scale required.”
In September, school absence fines in England rose from £60 to £80, and a parent who receives a second fine for the same child within a three-year period will now receive a £160 fine.
The latest DfE attendance data covers the last academic year before fines for unauthorised absences were increased.
Last week, the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, called on school and college leaders to “catch up fast” to improve pupil attendance, and said some schools were “not making enough progress” on absences.
Overall, the absence rate decreased from 7.4% in 2022-23 to 7.1% in 2023-24 but it remains higher than pre-pandemic rates of 4.7%, the data suggests.
One in five pupils in England, about 1.49 million young people, were “persistently absent” during the 2023-24 school year, which means they missed 10% or more school sessions.
This is down on 2022-23 when 21.2% of pupils were persistently absent, but it is still above the rate in 2018-19 of 10.9%.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “These figures make it clear that the current approach to solving absence just isn’t working. Simply increasing the pressure on schools, without providing any additional resource for them to tackle the issue, is fruitless.
“The only way to actually make progress is to look at the causes of absence – from parental attitude changes, holiday pricing, and children and young people’s experiences of mental health and poverty.
“Unless we begin to improve those things, absence will continue.”
Analysis from a thinktank earlier this week found that unauthorised school absence is a leading cause of the widening performance gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers in England. The research by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) found that all the increase in the “disadvantage gap” among 16-year-olds since 2019 can be explained by students on free school meals (FSM) missing more time at school than other pupils, putting them several months behind in terms of their results.
The EPI calculated that if disadvantaged pupils had the same attendance record as other pupils, the attainment gap at age 11 would be almost 10% smaller, and the gap at age 16 would be 20% lower.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “The government inherited a broken system, with children and families facing poor outcomes and barriers to opportunity. The case for tackling the epidemic of school absence could not be clearer: improved grades, higher wages, better life chances.
“Tackling this issue is everyone’s responsibility – government, schools, parents, and children – and we need a national effort to get our kids back in the classroom. We have made some encouraging progress this academic year, but more must be done and this month we have brought together ministers and over 2,000 school leaders up and down the country to share best practices to drive up attendance.
“As part of our plan for change, we [are] determined to turn the tide on poor attendance and break down barriers to opportunity – whether it’s through free breakfast clubs, improved mental health support, additional investment in family support, or more focus from Ofsted.”
