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ATTENDANCE AND ABSENCE IN SCOTTISH SCHOOLS 2003/04

14 December 2004

A Scottish Executive National Statistics Publication

Contents

Introduction
Summary information for 2003/04
Background Notes
List of Tables and Charts
Annex A: Definitions of Attendance and Absences

Introduction

1.1 This document contains the results of the new attendance and absence survey. This provides greater detail than the previous survey on the types of absence, and enables analysis of characteristics of absent pupils. Much of the information contained in this document is therefore not available for previous years. Information relates to local authority and mainstream grant aided schools only.

1.2 PLEASE NOTE: Guidance for categorising attendance and absence was changed for the academic year 2003/04. This means that, while the statistics below still measure what was authorised or unauthorised by schools, direct comparison with previous years must take into account the change in definitions. An increase or reduction in a category does not necessarily mean a change in attendance behaviour. Details of the changes are given in the background notes and the annex. We are also aware that some local authorities had yet to fully implement some of the changes in definitions, and this explains some of the differences between local authority figures.

Summary information for 2003/04

2.1 The overall rate of attendance was 93.1 per cent (under the previous definitions it was 92.6 per cent in 2002/03).

2.2 The rate of attendance for primary schools was 95.3 per cent. The rate for secondary schools was 90.2 per cent. The rate for special schools was 91.1 per cent.

2.3 Authorised absence in primary schools was 4.0 per cent, in secondary schools it was 8.0 per cent, and in special schools 6.6 per cent.

2.4 Unauthorised absence in primary schools was 0.7 per cent, in secondary schools it was 1.6 per cent, and in special schools it was 1.9 per cent.

2.5 Absence due to temporary exclusion in primary schools was 0.02 per cent, in secondary schools it was 0.24 per cent, and in special schools it was 0.39 per cent.

2.6 Per pupil, the average total absence in primary schools was just under two school weeks (18 half days), out of a possible 38 school weeks; in secondary schools it was just under four school weeks, (37 half days) out of a possible 38 school weeks.

2.7 On average, each day there were around 50,000 pupils absent (seven per cent), of which about 14,000 were sick, 4,600 were truanting, 4,000 were on holiday, and about 820 temporarily excluded.

Analysis of attendance and absence

3.1 Attendance was fairly stable between stages P1 and P7, and then decreased steadily through to S4, before increasing slightly in S5 and S6. Overall there was little difference in rates between boys and girls. However, boys had marginally better attendance rates from P1 to P4, and then again from S3 to S6 where there was a more noticeable difference.

3.2 Three quarters of pupils had an attendance rate of 90 per cent or above. About 48,000 pupils (six per cent) had a 100% attendance record. Of these just over half were boys, and three quarters were in primary school.

3.3 About 515,000 pupils (two thirds) had no unauthorised absence during the year, with 90 per cent of pupils having no more than one week unauthorised absence. Eight per cent of pupils were responsible for 75 per cent of unauthorised absence.

3.4 Authorised absence rates were slightly higher amongst girls than boys, with unauthorised absence rates being fairly equal, and absence due to temporary exclusion being higher amongst boys.

3.5 In general, schools with higher levels of deprivation had higher levels of absence, with the effect being greater in secondary school. There were many schools which did not follow this trend. Pupils who were registered for free school meals were absent for an average of ten days more than those who were not, with the difference being greater amongst boys.

3.6 Pupils living in urban areas were absent more often than those in rural areas.

3.7 Pupils with a Record of Needs or Individualised Educational Programme in mainstream schools were absent for an average of four days more than other pupils in those schools, with the difference being greater in secondary school.

3.8 Children looked after by local authorities were absent on average nine more days than other pupils, with those looked after by local authorities at home missing just under six weeks of school.

3.9 There was little difference in attendance rates of pupils from minority ethnic groups (92% compared with 93% amongst whites), though this varied across the different ethnic groups.

Reasons for absence

4.1 Within the overall absence rate of 6.9 per cent, the most common reason for absence was " other authorised absence", which accounted for 3.5 per cent of days. This category includes lack of transport, weddings, bereavements, religious observances, sporting and cultural events not arranged by the school, and attendance at hearings.

4.2 1.9 per cent of days were recorded as sickness, which was nearly always "without educational provision" and hence classed as authorised absence. Sickness rates increase suddenly in secondary school, particularly amongst girls. Deprivation increased the likelihood of being absent due to sickness.

4.3 0.7 per cent of days (about 890,000 pupil days) were lost due to truancy. About 140,000 pupils (19 per cent) were recorded as truanting at least once during 2003/04, with nine per cent of pupils responsible for 90 per cent of time lost due to truancy, and two per cent of pupils responsible for 50 per cent of truancy.

4.4 Truancy rates remain level at 0.3 per cent for both girls and boys throughout primary, before rising to 1.6 per cent (girls) and 1.7 per cent (boys) in S4. Pupils registered for free school meals had a truancy rate more than twice that of other pupils.

4.5 0.5 per cent of days were lost due to holidays. This equates to a total of 628,000 pupil-days lost, or just less than one day per pupil. Just under half of these days were authorised by the school. Holidays are now only to be authorised in exceptional circumstances (previously they were authorised if the pupil's attendance was otherwise satisfactory), but it is likely that some authorities had yet to fully implement this change, rather than the figures showing the true extent of "exceptional circumstances".

4.6 125,000 pupils (17 per cent) took holidays during term, taking an average of five days each. Holiday absence rates were highest in primary school and lowest in S4 to S6.

4.7 0.1 per cent of days were lost due to exceptional domestic circumstances. These were mainly short term and are considered authorised absence. About ten per cent of them were long term, where there is an expectation that additional support services will be assessed by the local authority to support the pupil, to ensure that pupils do not miss out on their entitlement to an education.

4.8 Absence from school due to temporary exclusion accounted for 0.1 per cent of days.

Punctuality

5.1 Pupils were recorded late on 1.2 per cent of openings. Of these 98 per cent were recorded as arriving during the first half of the morning or afternoon and so are included in the attendance figures. The remainder arrived in the second half of the morning or afternoon and are hence included here in the absence figures.

5.2 There was a sharp increase in recorded lateness between P7 and S1, with boys being late more often than girls in secondary.

Local authority analysis

6.1 Comparisons of local authority data will be affected by the extent to which they have implemented changes of definitions.

6.2 The percentage attendance in primary schools by local authority ranged from 96.7 per cent to 93.3 per cent, and in secondary schools from 93.9 per cent to 86.3 per cent.

6.3 Percentage unauthorised absence in primary schools by local authority ranged from 1.7 per cent to 0.2 per cent, and in secondary schools from 4.3 per cent to 0.1 per cent.

BACKGROUND NOTES

Definitions

1. The Scottish Executive Circular 5/03, including its annex and addendum, updated guidelines from the Scottish Office Circulars 1/95 and 10/95, giving specific guidance to schools and education authorities on the categorisation of attendance and absence.

2. The changes in definitions are set in the Annex, but the main difference in the figures is likely to be an increase in unauthorised absence (reduction in authorised absence) due to holidays during term now generally being unauthorised, and an increase in attendance (reduction in authorised absence) due to medical/dental appointments and study leave being classed as attendance.

3. Holidays taken during term time would now be categorised as unauthorised absence. However, it is acceptable under exceptional circumstances for schools to authorise a family holiday during term time. Such circumstances may include a family holiday judged to be important to the wellbeing and cohesion of the family, following serious or terminal illness, bereavement or other traumatic events. It should not include such reasons as the availability of cheap holidays, the availability of desired accommodation, poor weather experienced during school holidays, holidays which overlap the beginning or end of term, or parental difficulty obtaining leave (with local judgement applied in cases where evidence is provided by the employer that it cannot accommodate leave during school holidays without serious consequences).

4. The treatment in the data of pupils arriving late has also been clarified. Pupils arriving late are marked as such, with a distinction made for those arriving in the second half of a morning or the second half of the afternoon. Figures for those arriving during the first half of the morning or afternoon are included in the attendance figures, while those arriving during the second half are included in the authorised absence figures. They are of course still separately identified as being late but present for some of the time in the schools' systems for management purposes. Schools were also given the possibility of including all late marks on a pupil's record as attendance, if it was deemed beneficial for encouraging attendance. The distinction is also used in judging attendance records of those receiving bursaries and allowances.

5. Further details can be obtained from the circular and addendum:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/education/edc05-00.asp
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/education/ac503a-00.asp

6. Prior to 2003/04, information was collected at school level, by stage up to S5, in the four categories: attendance, authorised absence, unauthorised absence due to temporary exclusion, other unauthorised absence. From 2003/04 information is collected at individual level, enabling linkage to pupil characteristics collected in the pupil census, and is collected in the wider range of attendance and absence categories published in this document.

7. Tables of prior year data have not been published here, due to the effect of the changes in definitions. Last year's publication contained extensive tables giving such time series, and is available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00304-00.asp

Problems with the data

8. In some authorities schools did not receive full instructions from their local authority about the new definitions, and so for 2003/04 were unable to provide the data in line with the new definitions. Comparisons between local authorities will be affected by this. This is also known to have affected the data on lateness, with three local authorities yet to have implemented the codes.

9. The addendum to Circular 5/03 contained several changes, one being to move medical and dental appointments from authorised absence to the attendance category. The addendum was issued several weeks into the first term, and some authorities were not able to immediately implement the necessary changes to their software systems. Comparisons between local authorities may be affected by this.

10. Data from some schools was sent with incorrect information about the pupils' stage. The stage used in this analysis was therefore taken from linking the dataset back to the September 2003 census. Where no link was available, the stage was taken from the attendance data.

11. While information is received at pupil level, there is currently no unique pupil identifier for tracking pupils who move school to another authority. This means that in analysis where pupils are counted (e.g. proportion of pupils with 90% or more attendance) a small number of pupils may have been counted as two pupils with part year data rather than one pupil with full data. In other analysis, where data has been linked to pupil characteristics from the pupil census, only the attendance record from the original school has been used. The overall summary figures however are unaffected by this problem.

Coverage

12. Attendance and absence information is provided to the Scottish Executive by the local authorities and managers of mainstream grant-aided schools. This report does not give information on attendance and absence in grant-aided special schools, independent schools or pre-school establishments.

13. The information shown for attendance and absence is for the academic year. Schools which closed during the 2003/04 session, and for which data was available, were included.

14. The attendance and absence of S6 pupils and of adults attending day-school classes have been excluded from the main summary figures as they are beyond the age of compulsory schooling. However, S6 pupils have been included in the analysis of attendance and absence by stage and other pupil characteristics.

Calculation

15 .Percentages for authorised and unauthorised absence relate to the total number of possible attendances. For many schools this is 380 half-day sessions during the school year. However, all schools in the Lothians and Edinburgh and three schools in Highland operate 342 (longer) half-day sessions in the school year.

16. The local authority average is the average number of half-days authorised or unauthorised absence for all pupils in local authority schools only, based on a 380 half day year (i.e. scaled up for the Lothians and Edinburgh). The national average is the average number of half-days authorised or unauthorised absence for local authority and mainstream grant-aided schools in Scotland.

General

17. This is a National Statistics publication. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference.

18. The tables and charts are also available through the following link: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00382-00.asp

19. The team responsible for producing this document were:
Mal Cooke, Debbie Hall, Colin Gallacher.

20. Public enquiries (non-media) about the information contained in this Statistical Publication Notice should be addressed to Mal Cooke, Scottish Executive Education Department, Room 1-A, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ. Telephone 0131 244 1689 or e-mail: school.stats@scotland.gsi.gov.uk.

21. Media enquiries about the information in this Statistical Publication Notice should be addressed to:
Michael Bargeton 0131 244 2087

14 December 2004

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