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6 December 2005

A Scottish Executive National Statistics Publication

ISBN 0 7559 2861 X
ISSN 1479 7569

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The tables are also available in Excel format (312k)

Introduction

1.1. This document contains the results of the attendance and absence survey for 2004/05. Information relates to local authority and mainstream grant aided schools only.

1.2. This collection was revised in 2003/04 to give information at a greater detail and implement changes to definitions of attendance. Much of the information contained in this document is therefore not available for years prior to 2003/04 and direct comparison with years prior to 2003/04 must take into account changes in definitions.

1.3. We are also aware that some local authorities only implemented the new codes part of the way through 2003/04 or at the start of 2004/05. Direct comparison between 2003/04 and 2004/05 figures must take into account these delays. Analysis of the local authority data shows that in some areas there is still a considerable proportion of primary schools and a smaller proportion of secondary schools who are not recording absences to the level of detail expected.

Summary information for 2004/05

2.1. The overall rate of attendance was 93.0 per cent (93.1 per cent in 2003/04).

2.2. The rate of attendance for primary schools was 95.0 per cent (95.3 per cent in 2003/04). The rate for secondary schools remained at 90.2 per cent. The rate for special schools was 91.0 per cent (91.1 per cent in 2003/04).

2.3. 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 did have noticeably better attendance rates from S4 to S6.

2.4. Seventy-nine per cent of pupils had an attendance rate of 90 per cent or above. About 34,000 pupils (five per cent) had a 100 per cent attendance record. These figures only include pupils when they are at a school for more than half the year and so are not comparable with last year.

Reasons for absence

3.1. Within the overall absence rate of 7.0 per cent, 2.8 per cent of days were recorded as sickness (about 3.75 million pupil-days). Sickness rates increase suddenly in secondary school, particularly amongst girls. Deprivation increased the likelihood of being absent due to sickness. The increase this year in reported sickness rates is due to more accurate reporting where last year "other authorised absence" was used to code sickness in some schools. However, there still appears to be many schools not recording sickness correctly.

3.2. The second most common reason for absence was " other authorised absence", which accounted for 2.5 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 (and for some schools this category included sickness).

3.3. About 143,000 pupils (20 per cent) who attended a school for more than half the year were recorded as truanting at least once during 2004/05, with ten 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. These figures are not comparable with last year.

3.4. 0.8 per cent of days (about one million pupil-days) were lost due to truancy. Truancy rates remain level at 0.4 per cent for both girls and boys throughout primary, before rising to two per cent in S4. Pupils registered for free school meals had a truancy rate more than twice that of other pupils.

3.5. 0.5 per cent of days were lost due to holidays. This equates to a total of 645,000 pupil-days lost, or just less than one day per pupil. Just over a third 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".

3.6. 139,000 pupils (19 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.

3.7. 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 education.

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

Punctuality

4.1. Pupils were recorded late on 1.5 per cent of openings. Of these 97 per cent were recorded as arriving during the first half of the morning or afternoon.

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

Summary absence information

5.1. Total authorised absence in primary schools was 4.1 per cent, in secondary schools it was 7.7 per cent, and in special schools 6.6 per cent.

5.2. Total unauthorised absence in primary schools was 0.9 per cent, in secondary schools it was 1.9 per cent, and in special schools it was 2.0 per cent.

5.3. 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 0.37 per cent.

5.4. Per pupil, the average total absence in primary schools was just under two school weeks (19 half days), out of a possible 38 school weeks; in secondary schools it was just under four school weeks, (37 half days) and in special schools the figure was around three and a half school weeks (34 half days) out of a possible 38 school weeks.

5.5. On average, each day there were around 51,000 pupils absent (seven per cent), of which about 21,000 were sick, 5,600 were truanting, 3,600 were on holiday, and about 800 temporarily excluded.

Analysis of absence

6.1. About 460,000 pupils (65 per cent) had no unauthorised absence during the year, with 89 per cent of pupils having no more than one week unauthorised absence. Ten per cent of pupils were responsible for 75 per cent of unauthorised absence.

6.2. 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.

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

6.4. 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.

6.5. 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. Of these, pupils with social and emotional behavioural difficulties have the highest rate of absence.

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

6.7. Where a child has multiple risk factors (is registered for free meals, has a Record of Needs and is looked after) they are on average absent for just over six weeks.

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

Local authority analysis

7.1. Comparisons of local authority data will be affected by the extent to which they have complied with guidance on recording absence. While this generally will not affect summary attendance and absence rates, just the detailed reasons for absence, Dundee City Council have not reported their late figures on the same basis as other authorities, which would slightly increase their attendance rates. Another aspect of non-compliance is that until the reason for an absence is explained, schools are meant to record a pupil as "unexplained absence" (part of the truancy category). However, we understand that some authorities use "other authorised absence" as the default. There is a danger that this will result in lower truancy/unexplained absence figures for these authorities.

7.2. The percentage attendance in primary schools by local authority ranged from 96.4 per cent to 92.9 per cent, and in secondary schools from 94.0 per cent to 86.6 per cent. The range in attendance rates reflects the differing prevalence of risk factors, as previously identified, found in local authority populations.

7.3. Percentage unauthorised absence in primary schools by local authority ranged from 1.8 per cent to 0.3 per cent, and in secondary schools from 5.5 per cent to 0.2 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. Holidays taken during term time must 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).

3. 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. Where summary data is necessary, if a pupil has attended most of an opening it is counted as attendance, but if they have been absent for most of a session it is included as authorised absence. 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 is deemed beneficial for encouraging attendance. The distinction is also used in judging attendance records of those receiving bursaries and allowances.

4. 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

5. 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.

6. Tables for years prior to 2003/04 are available at;
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00304-00.asp

Last year's publication is available at;
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00382-00.asp

Problems with the data

7. While information is received at pupil level, there is currently no unique pupil identifier for tracking pupils who move school. This means that in analysis where pupils are counted (e.g. proportion of pupils with 90 per cent or more attendance) a small number of pupils would have been counted as two pupils with part year data rather than one pupil with full data. To avoid this, in these calculations we have included only those pupils who have been in a school for over half a year. In other analysis, where data has been linked to pupil characteristics from the pupil census, we are only able to use the attendance record from the original school. The overall summary figures however are unaffected by this problem.

8. Several local authorities in the Strathclyde area do not appear to be using the full range of absence categories and are recording most authorised absences as "other authorised absence". This does not affect the summary attendance and absence rates for these authorities.

9. We understand that some local authorities are using "other authorised absence" as the default for as yet unexplained absences. There is a danger that this incorrectly reduces their unauthorised absence rates. Dundee City Council have not reported their late figures on the same basis as other authorities, which would slightly increase their attendance rates.

10. Glasgow City submitted amendments to data for eight primary and ten special schools, however these were not received in time to be included in this publication. This is likely to have a small effect on Glasgow primary and special school attendance rates, while the effect on the national rates would be negligible.

Coverage

11. 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.

12. The information shown for attendance and absence is for the academic year. Schools which closed during the 2004/05 session, and for which data was available, were included.

13. The attendance and absence of S6 pupils and of adults attending day-school classes have been excluded from the 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

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. All percentages are rounded separately and figures may consequently not sum to 100 per cent.

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/00463

19. The team responsible for producing this document were:

Mal Cooke, Matt Flanagan, Colin Gallacher

20. Public enquiries (non-media) about the information contained in this Statistical Publication Notice should be addressed to Matt Flanagan, Scottish Executive Education Department, Room 1-B, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ. Telephone 0131 244 0300 or e-mail
school.stats@scotland.gsi.gov.uk .

21. Media enquiries about the information in this Statistical Publication Notice should be addressed to: Marion Mackay 0131 244 3070

6 December 2005

Contents

Reasons for absence

1.1 Percentage attendance and absence by reason
1.2 Percentage attendance by stage and gender
1.3 Percentage days absent due to sickness, by stage and gender
Chart 1 Percentage days absent due to sickness, by stage
1.4 Percentage days absent due to sickness, by deprivation
Chart 2 Percentage of pupils responsible for truancy.
Chart 3 Percentage of days absent due to truancy, by stage and gender
Chart 4 Percentage of days absent due to truancy, by stage and deprivation
Chart 5 Percentage of days lost due to holidays, by stage
Chart 6 Percentage of pupils taking holidays, by length of holidays
1.5 Times late, as a percentage of attendances, by stage and gender
Chart 7 Times late, as a percentage of attendances, by stage and gender

Summary statistics

2.1 Number of half days attendance and absence, by sector
2.2 Percentage of days attendance and absence, by sector
Chart 8 Percentage absence by stage and gender
Chart 9 Percentage of pupils by their attendance rate
Chart 10 Percentage of pupils by number of days unauthorised absence
2.3 Percentage attendance and absence, by urban/rural classification of school
Chart 11 Percentage attendance and absence, by urban/rural classification of school
2.4 Percentage of days attendance and absence, by deprivation and gender
Chart 12 Relationship between proportion of pupils registered for free school meals in a school and its absence rate
2.5 Percentage attendance and absence of pupils looked after by local authorities
2.6 Percentage attendance and absence of pupils in mainstream schools with RoN/IEP
Chart 13 Attendance rates for pupils with free school meals, RoN/IEP, and looked after by LA
2.7 Percentage attendance and absence of pupils by main difficulty of learning
2.8 Percentage attendance and absence by ethnic background

Local authority data

3.1 Percentage attendance and absence, by reason, primary, secondary and special
3.2 Percentage attendance and absence, by reason, primary
3.3 Percentage attendance and absence, by reason, secondary
3.4 Percentage attendance and absence, by reason, special

Local authority summaries

4.1 Average half days and percentage attendance and absence by local authority, primary (National Priorities indicator 2.2)
4.2 Average half days and percentage attendance and absence by local authority, secondary (National Priorities indicator 2.2)
4.3 Average half days and percentage attendance and absence by local authority, special (National Priorities indicator 2.2)

Annex A

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