Missing too much time in class for any reason can have a big impact on pupil achievement - even in their early, primary school days.
A recent Department for Education report found that pupils who attended school nearly every day in Year 6 were 1.3 times more likely to meet the Government’s expected standards in reading, writing and maths compared to pupils who only attended 90-95% of the time. This means missing just 10 days of school cuts down their chances by around 25%.
But England’s overall school attendance rates could certainly be better. The Government’s latest full absence and attendance figures, covering the full 2023/24 school year show that the overall absence rate - the percentage of half-days missed for all pupils - sits at 7.1%; still well above pre-pandemic figures. One in five pupils were also labelled ‘persistently absent’, meaning they missed at least 10% of these half-day sessions.
As well as looking at how schools across the country fared, we’ve also taken a deep dive into attendance rates for state primary schools in the Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County council areas. Using this data, we’ve created a league table celebrating the schools that have managed to keep their overall absence rates at 3.5% or lower - an achievement any school community should be proud of.
Here were the 13 schools that made the list:
1. St Mary's Catholic Primary School
At the top of the list is St Mary’s, a Catholic primary academy in Nottingham with a roll size of about 237 pupils. In the 2023/24 school year, it had a low overall absence rate of just 2.7%. | Google
2. Jesse Gray Primary School
Jesse Gray is a local authority-maintained primary in West Bridgford. It has a roll size of about 422, and a considerably higher proportion of its pupils meet the Government’s expected standards in reading, writing, and maths than both the local and national averages. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an overall absence rate of 3.1%. | Google
3. Crossdale Primary School
Crossdale is a primary academy in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire. It has about 196 pupils, and is also an above average performer academically. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an overall absence rate of 3.2%. | Google
4. Willow Brook Primary School
Willow Brook is another primary school in the Keyworth area, this one maintained by the local authority. It has a roll size of about 197 pupils. In the 2023/24 school year, it too had an overall absence rate of 3.2%. | Google