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1700033

	registered interest
	date	12/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Absenteeism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will issue guidance to schools not to include authorised medical absences related to diagnosed medical conditions in their calculations measuring persistent absence.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
	tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
	uin	20958
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/04/2024 answer text <p>Ensuring that children are in school is a top priority for the government.</p><p>The department promotes a ‘support first’ approach to school attendance and recognises that some pupils face greater barriers to attendance than their peers. These pupils can include pupils who suffer from long term medical conditions. Their right to an education is the same as any other pupil and therefore the attendance ambition for these pupils should be the same as they are for any other pupil.</p><p>The department’s guidance, titled ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’, makes clear that schools should not penalise pupils for their attendance record if their absences are related to physical or mental health conditions. The guidance can be found here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/803956/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/803956/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions.pdf</a>.</p><p>In addition, the department’s guidance, titled ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ emphasises that schools and local authorities should be working with the child and their family to remove any barriers to attendance by building strong and trusting relationships and working together to put the right support in place. This includes having sensitive conversations and developing good support for pupils with physical and mental health conditions and establishing strategies for removing in-school barriers to attendance. More information can be found here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63049617e90e0729e63d3953/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63049617e90e0729e63d3953/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance.pdf</a>.</p><p>To help implement the ‘support first’ approach, schools should record their attendance data accurately. The department has a daily data scheme to understand the drivers for absence, including those related to illness. Participation in the daily data scheme will become mandatory for all state-funded schools from September 2024.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 22/04/2024 08:52:44 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
	tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1697509

	registered interest
	date	20/03/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Absenteeism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of children and young people missing school as a result of long covid in the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	Lewisham West and Penge
	tabling member printed	Ellie Reeves
	uin	19674
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2024 answer text <p>The department does not hold information on absence by the specific category of long COVID. Data on absence by reason, which includes the category of illness, is published in the ‘Pupil Absence in Schools in England’ statistical release: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Where pupils face barriers to their attendance because of long-term medical conditions, the department expects schools to work with families to put in place additional support to help them to attend regularly. They should also consider whether support from external agencies would be appropriate, may need to provide reasonable adjustments, and ensure that appropriate pastoral support is in place. Local authorities are responsible for arranging suitable provision for children of compulsory school age who, because of health reasons, would otherwise not receive suitable education.</p><p><strong><br> </strong></p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 27/03/2024 16:42:48 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
	tabling member	4620 label Biography information for Ellie Reeves

1683485

	registered interest
	date	18/01/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Absenteeism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce school absenteeism in Lancashire.
	tabling member constituency	Preston
	tabling member printed	Sir Mark Hendrick
	uin	10380
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2024 answer text <p>The department has a comprehensive national attendance strategy to ensure that every child attends school every day in all regions of the country.</p><p>This includes the recently expanded attendance hubs programme. There are now a total of almost 2,000 schools, including nine schools in Lancashire, who have been assigned a hub to tackle persistent absence, reaching around 1 million pupils. Attendance hubs are led by senior leaders in schools with effective attendance practice as a way for them to share practical approaches and resources for improving attendance.</p><p>The department published guidance on working together to improve school attendance to ensure that all local authorities and schools, including those in Lancashire, work together to reduce school absenteeism. The guidance is available at: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1099677/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1099677/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance.pdf</a>.</p><p>Local authorities, including Lancashire, are expected to rigorously track local attendance data to devise a strategic approach to attendance. In addition, all schools in all regions are required to have an attendance policy and to appoint an attendance champion who is responsible for enforcing this. To help identify children at risk of persistent absence and to enable early intervention, the department established a timelier flow of pupil level attendance data through the daily attendance data collection.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 26/01/2024 12:36:41 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
	tabling member	473 label Biography information for Sir Mark Hendrick

1660873

	registered interest
	date	14/09/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Absenteeism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to tackle potential regional disparities in school absence rates.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
	tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
	uin	199592
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/09/2023 answer text <p>The Government understands how important regular school attendance is for pupils' education, wellbeing and life chances. The Department has a national strategy for tackling absence and is providing targeted support to reduce regional disparities.</p><p>In 2022, the Department published stronger expectations of schools, trusts, governing bodies and Local Authorities in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance. Schools are now expected to publish an attendance policy, appoint an attendance champion, and use data to identify and then support pupils at risk of becoming persistently absent. This guidance will ensure there is greater consistency for managing attendance across all schools and different Local Authority areas. The Department has deployed 10 expert attendance advisers to work with all 155 English Local Authorities to review practices, develop plans to improve and meet expectations set out in the guidance. The aim of this work is to improve the quality of attendance support in all areas across the country.</p><p>The Secretary of State and I co chair the ‘Attendance Action Alliance’ of system leaders to work to remove barriers to attendance and reduce absence through delivering pledges of specific actions to tackle the problem. The Department has also made available £5 billion nationally for education recovery, helping pupils to recover from the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic. This funding includes up to £1.5 billion on tutoring and nearly £2 billion of direct funding to schools so they can deliver evidence based interventions based on pupil needs.</p><p>The Department is also providing direct support and funding in specific areas. The Department announced 24 Priority Education Investment Areas (PEIAs) who will receive up to £42 million to fund bespoke interventions to improve attainment at Key Stages 2 and 4. Where poor attendance has been identified as a key issue in an area, specific attendance initiatives are also being funded to address this.</p><p>The Department has also launched a £2.32 million attendance mentor pilot which aims to deliver intensive one to one support to persistently and severely absent pupils in 5 PEIAs. This is alongside our 10 new attendance hubs who are sharing their effective practice for attendance with up to 600 partner schools, reaching hundreds of thousands of pupils. Schools in PEIAs also have priority access to support from hubs.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 26/09/2023 15:45:22 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

1609856

	registered interest
	date	14/04/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Absenteeism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made by age and gender of the number of children who have been persistently absent from school in each year since 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
	tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
	uin	179989
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2023 answer text <p>The requested information is provided in the National Statistics publication on pupil absence, available at: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england</a>.</p><p>Information on persistent absence by National Curriculum year group, as an indicator of age, is available at: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/15c7e633-b610-471e-bb5b-08db371944c7" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/15c7e633-b610-471e-bb5b-08db371944c7</a>.</p><p>Information on persistent absence by gender is available at: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/c4a68621-b08e-4cad-bb5c-08db371944c7" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/c4a68621-b08e-4cad-bb5c-08db371944c7</a>.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 19/04/2023 15:23:16 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1609858

	registered interest
	date	14/04/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Absenteeism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the proportion of children persistently absent from school who have been the subject of a safeguarding referral in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
	tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
	uin	179991
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2023 answer text <p>The Department does not hold the information in the format requested, but absence rates for children in need of support from social services are available at: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/outcomes-for-children-in-need-including-children-looked-after-by-local-authorities-in-england/2022" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/outcomes-for-children-in-need-including-children-looked-after-by-local-authorities-in-england/2022</a>.</p><p>This data relates to children in need, children on a child protection plan and children looked after by local authorities in England.</p><p>Persistent absence rates for these children at 31 March between 2016/17 and 2021/22 are available at: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/fast-track/bd25d934-c0b5-4de2-81df-75eec0e9bbbb" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/fast-track/bd25d934-c0b5-4de2-81df-75eec0e9bbbb</a>.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 179990 question first answered 19/04/2023 15:12:09 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1609857

	registered interest
	date	14/04/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Absenteeism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the proportion of children persistently absent from school whose families are in contact with local authority social services in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
	tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
	uin	179990
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2023 answer text <p>The Department does not hold the information in the format requested, but absence rates for children in need of support from social services are available at: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/outcomes-for-children-in-need-including-children-looked-after-by-local-authorities-in-england/2022" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/outcomes-for-children-in-need-including-children-looked-after-by-local-authorities-in-england/2022</a>.</p><p>This data relates to children in need, children on a child protection plan and children looked after by local authorities in England.</p><p>Persistent absence rates for these children at 31 March between 2016/17 and 2021/22 are available at: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/fast-track/bd25d934-c0b5-4de2-81df-75eec0e9bbbb" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/fast-track/bd25d934-c0b5-4de2-81df-75eec0e9bbbb</a>.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 179991 question first answered 19/04/2023 15:12:09 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1418212

	registered interest
	date	31/01/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Absenteeism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions officials in his Department have had with representatives of Ofsted on the viability of inspections during a period of acute staff and pupil absence.
	tabling member constituency	Warwick and Leamington
	tabling member printed	Matt Western
	uin	114882
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/02/2022 answer text <p>The department engages regularly with Ofsted on a range of matters, including inspection arrangements in the changing context of the COVID-19 outbreak.</p><p>Ofsted inspection continues to play an important role in providing independent assurance as providers respond to the COVID-19 outbreak. It is right though that these arrangements are kept under review, and adjustments made where appropriate.</p><p>At the start of this term Ofsted temporarily halted use of part time inspectors who are also front-line leaders. Since 31 January Ofsted has been inviting those who are able to inspect again to do so. Ofsted’s deferral policy has provided reassurance to schools, colleges and early years providers that have been significantly impacted by staff absence in recent weeks. That policy remains in place and Ofsted will continue to remind providers about it for the remainder of this half term.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 07/02/2022 16:21:34 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4617 label Biography information for Matt Western

1418211

	registered interest
	date	31/01/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Absenteeism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the number of absences of (a) staff and (b) pupils in English schools in (i) October 2021, (ii) November 2021, (iii) December 2021 and (iv) January 2022.
	tabling member constituency	Warwick and Leamington
	tabling member printed	Matt Western
	uin	114881
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/02/2022 answer text <p>The daily Education Setting survey asks schools and colleges to report data such as on-site attendance and COVID-19 absence.</p><p>The most recent published data for staff and pupil absences at national level is 20 January 2022 and can be found here: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak</a>.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 07/02/2022 15:51:57 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4617 label Biography information for Matt Western

1419290

	registered interest
	date	02/02/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Absenteeism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of days missed of school by (a) students and (b) teachers in the first term of the 2021-22 academic year.
	tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
	tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
	uin	116939
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/02/2022 answer text <p>The requested data is not yet available.</p><p>Data relating to the number of school days missed by pupils due to absence in the autumn term of the 2021-22 academic year is currently being collected in the termly school census. It will be published in May 2022 and will be available here: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term</a>.</p><p>The daily education settings survey asks schools and colleges to report data such as on-site attendance and absence due to COVID-19.</p><p>The most recent published data for staff and pupil absences at national level is for 20 January 2022 and can be found here: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak</a>.</p><p>Data relating to teacher sickness absence is collected from state-funded schools in England from the November school workforce census. Each census collects data for absence from the previous academic year. The November 2021 census, covering the 2020-21 academic year, will be published in summer 2022 and will be available here: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england</a>.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 07/02/2022 12:48:49 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra