More than a quarter of students taking GCSEs this summer have been persistently absent so far this year, it has been revealed.
A total of 28 per cent of Year 11 students were persistently absent during the autumn and spring terms, according to analysis by FFT Education Datalab.
The data shows the rate has only slightly fallen from the 29 per cent recorded as missing 10 per cent or more half days of schooling (sessions) for the same period last year, despite government efforts to improve attendance.
Persistent absence was only 15 per cent over the autumn and spring terms in 2018-19, before the Covid pandemic lockdowns.
Tes revealed last spring that school leaders were concerned about the exam readiness of Year 11 students because of a high rate of absence.
GCSEs: High absence for disadvantaged students
Almost half of disadvantaged GCSE students (46 per cent) missed 10 per cent or more of sessions during the autumn and spring terms (compared with 48 per cent last year), and 27 per cent missed 20 per cent or more sessions, according to the FFT attendance tracker. This classes students as disadvantaged if they have been eligible for free school meals in the past six years (FSM6).
School leaders and experts have warned that the pandemic has impacted particularly hard on disadvantaged students’ outcomes. The disadvantage-related attainment gap had been narrowing before the pandemic but is now the widest it has been in more than a decade.
Year 11 students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and an education, health and care plan (EHCP) had a persistent absence rate of 47 per cent, while those receiving SEND support had a 43 per cent persistent absence rate, according to the FFT data.
Nearly one-third of SEND students with an EHCP missed 20 per cent or more of their sessions across the spring and autumn terms.
And more than half of Year 11 students (57 per cent) who were both FSM6 and had an EHCP were persistently absent, according to the data.
Persistent absence rates for Year 11s have slightly improved in every region but remain high everywhere and well above 2018-19, according to FFT, which collects its data from a sample of 10,000 state schools in England.
The highest rate was in the South West, where almost one-third of GCSE students have been persistently absent so far this year (31 per cent), and the lowest rate was in London, where just under a quarter have been persistently absent (24 per cent), down from 27 per cent for the same period last year.
London and the North East (now 28 per cent, down from 31 per cent) have seen the biggest improvements in reducing persistent absence, according to FFT.
Overall absence still up
Overall absence after the pandemic has remained stubbornly high despite the government’s efforts to tackle the issue.
Secondary students across all year groups have missed 9 per cent of school sessions so far this year (compared with 9.2 per cent last year and 5.2 per cent in 2018-19).
There has been a greater improvement in attendance in primary schools, with pupils missing 5.7 per cent of sessions during the autumn and spring terms, compared with 6.3 per cent last year. However, the rate is still well above the 3.9 per cent recorded pre-pandemic.
Authorised absence due to illness is still the most common reason why students are missing school and a slight reduction in this is the main driver behind the improvement in primary attendance, FFT said.
However, unauthorised absence among secondary school students has not reduced at all compared with last year (3.5 per cent this year compared with 3.4 per cent).
The Department for Education has been contacted for comment.
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