Select Committee on Public Accounts Minutes of Evidence

Supplementary memorandum submitted by the Department for Education and Skills

Question 111 (Mr Bacon): A breakdown by age of the estimated 450,000 pupils on average absent from school each day.

  The Department does not collect data for individual pupils or by year group so it is not currently possible to analyse absence rates by age. We will however be able to do so in the future. For secondary schools data will be available from 2006 and for primary schools from 2007.

  The Department does have the figures broken down between primary and secondary schools. This shows that absence has generally been higher in the secondary sector (particularly unauthorised absence).

PUPIL ABSENCE IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS (ENGLAND)

All Schools	2000-01 (%)	2001-02 (%)	2002-03 (%)	2003-04 (%)
Total Attendance	92.73	92.98	93.17	93.43
Total Absence	7.27	7.02	6.83	6.57
Total Authorised	6.54	6.30	6.13	5.85
Total Unauthorised	0.73	0.72	0.70	0.72
Primary Schools	2000-01 (%)	2001-02 (%)	2002-03 (%)	2003-04 (%)
Total Attendance	93.92	94.15	94.19	94.51
Total Absence	6.08	5.85	5.81	5.49
Total Authorised	5.59	5.40	5.38	5.08
Total Unauthorised	0.49	0.45	0.43	0.41
Secondary Schools	2000-01 (%)	2001-02 (%)	2002-03 (%)	2003-04 (%)
Total Attendance	90.96	91.28	91.72	91.94
Total Absence	9.04	8.72	8.28	8.06
Total Authorised	7.98	7.63	7.21	6.92
Total Unauthorised	1.07	1.09	1.07	1.14

  There is pupil-level evidence from the NFER research on pupil attendance in Excellence in Cities areas which is mentioned in the NAO Report. Table 3.1 on page 9 of the NFER Interim Report from that research (DfES Research Report 571) looks at absence by year group. Looking at the averages for 2001 and 2002 combined, it shows that the number of half-day absence sessions by year group was as follows:

Year Group	Authorised Absence	Unauthorised Absence	All Absence
7	23.7	3.7	27.4
8	25.7	3.4	29.1
9	26.4	7.0	33.4
10	28.4	5.8	34.2
ALL	26.0	4.7	30.7
Note: figures for year 11 were not available.

  Based on a school having 380 half-day sessions in a year this table translates into:

Year Group	Authorised Absence	Unauthorised Absence	All Absence
	%	%	%
7	6.24	0.97	7.21
8	6.76	0.89	7.66
9	6.95	1.84	8.79
10	7.47	1.53	9.00
ALL	6.84	1.24	8.08

Question 112 (Mr Jenkins): A list of local education authorities showing the level of funding they receive for "deprivation" and their absence rates.

  I attach tables listing LEAs by Additional Educational Needs (AEN) indices. These indices constitute the main basis on which deprivation is allowed for within the Education Formula Spending system. In general, LEAs with the highest values on the indices receive proportionately the most additional funding for deprivation and vice versa.

  The Primary AEN Index is a combination of measures capturing the incidence of English as an Additional Language, Income Support and Working Families Tax Credits for each LEA.

  The Secondary AEN Index is a combination of measures capturing the incidence of ethnicity (low achieving ethnic groups), Income Support and Working Families Tax Credits for each LEA.

  The figures have been analysed separately for each sector. On each table, LEAs have been ranked according to their AEN index value, with the LEA having the highest index value being ranked 1. In general, in both sectors, there is a tendency for absence to decline as we move down the AEN rankings. But the relationship is far from perfect. This is consistent with the findings of the NAO Report which found that there was a strong but by no means perfect association between absence rates and the incidence of Free School Meals (itself closely related to the figures on Income Support included in the AEN index).

PRIMARY SCHOOLS—ABSENCE 2003-04 BY LEAs RANKED ON THE BASIS OF THE PRIMARY ADDITIONAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS (AEN) INDEX

Rank on Primary AEN Index	Primary AEN Index	Local Education Authority	Overall Absence (%)	Authorised Absence (%)	Unauthorised Absence (%)
1	0.7944	Tower Hamlets	5.94	4.75	1.19
2	0.6558	Newham	5.29	4.58	0.71
3	0.6140	Hackney	6.49	5.33	1.16
4	0.5695	Harringey	6.63	5.50	1.13
5	0.5607	Islington	6.75	5.79	0.96
6	0.5398	Westminster, City of	5.82	5.31	0.51
7	0.5283	Lambeth	6.20	5.23	0.97
8	0.5247	Camden	6.76	6.20	0.56
9	0.5017	Southwark	6.29	4.68	1.61
10	0.4872	Manchester	6.69	5.84	0.85
11	0.4868	Brent	6.05	5.50	0.55
12	0.4779	Leicester City	6.53	5.82	0.71
13	0.4587	Birmingham	6.15	5.50	0.64
14	0.4568	Hammersmith and Fulham	5.99	5.29	0.70
15	0.4380	Ealing	5.59	5.32	0.27
16	0.4364	Waltham Forest	5.98	5.30	0.68
17	0.4288	Nottingham City	6.48	5.86	0.62
18	0.4192	London, City of	5.37	5.08	0.29
19	0.4182	Bradford	5.56	4.86	0.70
20	0.4142	Lewisham	5.79	4.83	0.97
21	0.4122	Blackburn with Darwen	6.25	5.75	0.50
22	0.4121	Hounslow	5.78	4.62	1.16
23	0.4046	Greenwich	6.75	5.52	1.24
24	0.4030	Liverpool	6.40	5.92	0.48
25	0.3807	Sandwell	6.63	6.14	0.48
26	0.3787	Enfield	5.98	5.17	0.81
27	0.3765	Knowsley	6.37	5.62	0.75
28	0.3757	Kensington and Chelsea	6.21	5.80	0.40
29	0.3750	Wandsworth	6.21	5.64	0.57
30	0.3734	Luton	6.20	5.70	0.50
31	0.3712	Slough	6.15	5.37	0.79
32	0.3710	Middlesbrough	6.45	6.03	0.42
33	0.3607	Oldham	5.64	5.23	0.41
34	0.3509	Redbridge	5.90	5.12	0.77
35	0.3493	Barking and Dagenham	6.46	5.12	1.34
36	0.3489	Wolverhampton	6.27	5.77	0.51
37	0.3488	Newcastle upon Tyne	5.85	5.47	0.38
38	0.3422	Rochdale	5.84	5.14	0.70
39	0.3402	Kingston upon Hull, City of	5.76	5.21	0.55
40	0.3319	Harrow	5.66	5.49	0.17
41	0.3222	Stoke on Trent	6.23	5.56	0.67
42	0.3189	Walsall	6.20	5.80	0.40
43	0.3124	Salford	6.30	5.71	0.59
44	0.3082	Peterborough City	5.57	5.08	0.49
45	0.3026	South Tyneside	5.60	5.40	0.20
46	0.3023	Bolton	5.04	4.71	0.33
47	0.3014	Barnet	5.71	5.06	0.65
48	0.3004	Kirklees	5.29	4.89	0.40
49	0.2997	Coventry	6.12	5.81	0.31
50	0.2983	Derby City	5.39	4.80	0.60
51	0.2966	Halton	5.82	5.37	0.44
52	0.2944	Hartlepool	5.14	4.55	0.60
53	0.2875	Croydon	6.22	5.49	0.73
54	0.2849	Sheffield	5.64	5.00	0.64
55	0.2825	Southampton	6.24	5.58	0.66
56	0.2791	Blackpool	6.16	5.45	0.71
57	0.2774	Sunderland	5.82	5.62	0.21
58	0.2733	Redcar and Cleveland	5.85	5.60	0.25
59	0.2730	Hillingdon	6.10	5.52	0.58
60	0.2722	Bristol, City of	6.72	5.83	0.89
61	0.2690	Merton	5.44	5.11	0.33
62	0.2663	Wirral	5.46	5.16	0.30
63	0.2661	Calderdale	4.97	4.67	0.30
64	0.2653	Gateshead	5.32	5.05	0.27

65	0.2605	Tameside	5.57	5.26	0.32
66	0.2590	North East Lincolnshire	5.50	5.27	0.23
67	0.2586	Rotherham	5.74	5.34	0.40
68	0.2555	Doncaster	5.76	5.45	0.31
69	0.2531	Barnsley	5.91	5.38	0.53
70	0.2489	Leeds	5.49	5.10	0.39
71	0.2439	St Helens	5.66	5.33	0.33
72	0.2438	Reading	5.74	5.28	0.46
73	0.2420	Plymouth	5.65	5.39	0.26
74	0.2406	Telford and The Wrekin	5.33	5.04	0.29
75	0.2405	Portsmouth	5.78	5.05	0.73
76	0.2403	Stockton on Tees	5.31	5.09	0.22
77	0.2383	Southend-on-Sea	5.75	5.35	0.40
78	0.2347	North Tyneside	4.99	4.83	0.17
79	0.2342	Torbay	5.60	5.25	0.35
80	0.2338	Brighton and Hove	6.10	5.58	0.51
81	0.2330	Darlington	6.10	5.77	0.33
82	0.2322	Durham	5.65	5.53	0.12
83	0.2278	Dudley	5.82	5.54	0.28
84	0.2268	Wakefield	5.65	5.10	0.55
85	0.2244	Lancashire	5.05	4.72	0.32
86	0.2228	Sefton	5.54	5.33	0.20
87	0.2189	Bury	4.93	4.68	0.25
88	0.2150	Isle of Wight	5.71	5.61	0.10
89	0.2118	Bournemouth	5.40	5.19	0.21
90	0.2073	North Lincolnshire	5.23	5.01	0.22
91	0.2056	Trafford	4.80	4.62	0.18
92	0.2023	Milton Keynes	5.37	5.15	0.22
93	0.2022	Wigan	5.26	5.02	0.24
94	0.1963	Cornwall	5.74	5.42	0.32
95	0.1952	Thurrock	6.16	5.59	0.57
96	0.1941	Kingston upon Thames	5.02	4.79	0.23
97	0.1930	Medway	5.46	5.15	0.31
98	0.1874	Bexley	5.67	5.34	0.33
99	0.1839	Northumberland	5.49	5.29	0.19
100	0.1811	Nottinghamshire	5.39	5.04	0.35
101	0.1780	Norfolk	5.90	5.49	0.41
102	0.1736	Stockport	5.13	4.83	0.30
103	0.1693	Cumbria	4.81	4.64	0.17
104	0.1688	Kent	5.34	4.98	0.36
105	0.1682	East Sussex	5.23	4.70	0.53
106	0.1680	Swindon	5.15	4.92	0.23
107	0.1666	Sutton	5.33	5.02	0.31
108	0.1661	Derbyshire	5.25	4.89	0.36
109	0.1658	Lincolnshire	5.13	4.84	0.29
110	0.1631	Northamptonshire	5.38	5.00	0.38
111	0.1630	Poole	5.43	4.97	0.46
112	0.1608	York, City of	4.78	4.46	0.32
113	0.1603	Warrington	4.54	4.08	0.47
114	0.1601	Havering	5.74	5.52	0.22
115	0.1598	Devon	5.33	5.08	0.26
116	0.1585	Solihull	4.83	4.47	0.36
117	0.1552	Bromley	5.50	4.91	0.60
118	0.1542	Bedfordshire	5.08	4.91	0.17
119	0.1535	Staffordshire	4.97	4.78	0.19
120	0.1489	Suffolk	5.05	4.77	0.27
121	0.1478	Essex	5.62	5.25	0.37
122	0.1471	Worcestershire	5.29	5.06	0.23
123	0.1443	Herefordshire	5.22	5.03	0.20
124	0.1441	Richmond upon Thames	4.76	4.41	0.35
125	0.1424	Somerset	5.14	4.88	0.26
126	0.1421	Cheshire	4.78	4.38	0.39
127	0.1421	Warwickshire	4.95	4.76	0.19
128	0.1413	East Riding of Yorkshire	4.73	4.60	0.13
129	0.1373	Gloucestershire	4.98	4.75	0.23
130	0.1360	Hertfordshire	5.11	4.78	0.32
131	0.1353	Buckinghamshire	4.60	4.37	0.24
132	0.1351	West Sussex	5.05	4.84	0.21
133	0.1327	Bath and North East Somerset	5.20	4.88	0.32
134	0.1316	Leicestershire	4.97	4.79	0.18
135	0.1303	Shropshire	4.90	4.77	0.13
136	0.1301	North Somerset	5.50	5.25	0.26
137	0.1288	Dorset	5.28	5.02	0.25
138	0.1276	Oxfordshire	4.89	4.63	0.26
139	0.1242	North Yorkshire	4.73	4.56	0.17
140	0.1239	Cambridgeshire	5.25	4.86	0.39
141	0.1227	Windsor and Maidenhead	4.75	4.35	0.40
142	0.1175	South Gloucestershire	5.10	4.89	0.21
143	0.1169	Hampshire	4.82	4.52	0.30
144	0.1150	Wiltshire	4.83	4.52	0.31
145	0.1021	Bracknell Forest	5.10	4.94	0.16
146	0.1009	Surrey	5.16	4.91	0.25
147	0.0922	West Berkshire	4.95	4.64	0.31
148	0.0776	Isles of Scilly	4.73	4.30	0.42
149	0.0728	Wokingham	4.40	4.19	0.21
150	0.0669	Rutland	4.21	4.14	0.07

SECONDARY SCHOOLS—ABSENCE 2003-04 BY LEAs RANKED ON THE BASIS OF THE SECONDARY ADDITIONAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS (AEN) INDEX

Rank on Primary AEN Index	Primary AEN Index	Local Education Authority	Overall Absence (%)	Authorised Absence (%)	Unauthorised Absence (%)
1	0.7868	Tower Hamlets	7.62	5.64	1.97
2	0.6356	Hackney	7.82	5.96	1.86
3	0.6110	Newham	6.46	5.23	1.23
4	0.6010	Southwark	8.27	6.52	1.74
5	0.5969	Lambeth	7.48	6.98	0.50
6	0.5952	Islington	7.92	6.51	1.41
7	0.5585	Haringey	8.68	6.84	1.84
8	0.5021	Manchester	11.01	8.77	2.24
9	0.4904	Westminster, City of	8.02	6.07	1.95
10	0.4861	Lewisham	8.45	5.96	2.49
11	0.4632	Camden	8.61	7.44	1.17
12	0.4617	Hammersmith and Fulham	8.39	6.68	1.72
13	0.4560	Waltham Forest	7.69	6.12	1.57
14	0.4492	Birmingham	8.11	6.52	1.59
15	0.4436	Nottingham City	10.43	8.25	2.18
16	0.4424	Brent	7.80	6.91	0.89
17	0.4291	Wandsworth	7.89	7.07	0.82
18	0.4107	Greenwich	9.43	6.61	2.82
19	0.4034	Liverpool	10.13	8.22	1.91
20	0.3986	Bradford	8.82	5.99	2.83
21	0.3870	Ealing	7.47	6.67	0.80
22	0.3767	Knowsley	9.79	7.69	2.10
23	0.3711	Luton	8.23	7.50	0.74
24	0.3659	Middlesbrough	11.11	8.88	2.23
25	0.3585	Sandwell	10.10	8.16	1.94
26	0.3544	Barking and Dagenham	8.64	6.70	1.93
27	0.3509	Leicester City	9.68	6.64	3.04
28	0.3433	Enfield	7.91	6.43	1.49
29	0.3422	Croydon	8.59	7.41	1.18
30	0.3414	Wolverhampton	8.53	7.40	1.13
31	0.3402	Hounslow	7.09	5.93	1.15
32	0.3380	Kensington and Chelsea	7.36	6.35	1.01
33	0.3372	Blackburn with Darwen	8.94	7.81	1.13
34	0.3364	Kingston upon Hull, City of	10.81	8.38	2.43
35	0.3353	Oldham	8.53	7.28	1.24
36	0.3330	Rochdale	9.11	7.48	1.62
37	0.3280	Newcastle upon Tyne	9.49	8.52	0.96
38	0.3267	Slough	7.72	6.17	1.55
39	0.3164	Stoke on Trent	8.14	7.64	1.50
40	0.3039	Salford	11.32	8.65	2.67
41	0.3036	Walsall	8.40	7.33	1.07
42	0.2979	Halton	10.21	7.50	2.71
43	0.2975	South Tyneside	9.68	7.98	1.70
44	0.2928	Hartlepool	8.07	6.95	1.13
45	0.2922	Peterborough City	7.87	6.70	1.17
46	0.2890	Derby City	8.24	6.52	1.71
47	0.2884	Redbridge	6.42	5.48	0.94
48	0.2872	Sheffield	9.00	6.97	2.03
49	0.2804	Merton	8.24	6.90	1.34
50	0.2773	Blackpool	9.78	7.89	1.88
51	0.2770	Bristol, City of	11.02	8.90	2.12
52	0.2750	Kirklees	7.50	6.41	1.09
53	0.2737	Sunderland	8.53	7.34	1.19
54	0.2660	Redcar and Cleveland	8.55	7.52	1.03
55	0.2655	Wirral	7.76	7.14	0.61
56	0.2651	Coventry	8.81	8.00	0.81
57	0.2646	Southampton	8.86	7.67	1.19
58	0.2635	Gateshead	8.61	7.71	0.90
59	0.2629	Calderdale	7.51	6.90	0.61
60	0.2610	Barnet	7.43	6.37	1.07
61	0.2583	Bolton	8.55	7.18	1.37
62	0.2572	North East Lincolnshire	10.02	8.22	1.80
63	0.2554	Rotherham	8.39	6.80	1.60
64	0.2549	Doncaster	8.67	7.09	1.59
65	0.2513	Barnsley	8.55	7.20	1.35
66	0.2509	Tameside	7.88	7.43	0.46
67	0.2507	Reading	9.31	7.18	2.13
68	0.2494	Harrow	6.91	6.43	0.48
69	0.2436	Leeds	8.97	6.97	2.00
70	0.2432	St Helens	8.18	7.10	1.07
71	0.2391	Plymouth	7.85	7.13	0.72
72	0.2378	Stockton on Tees	7.78	6.91	0.87
73	0.2374	Telford and The Wrekin	7.96	7.34	0.61
74	0.2339	Brighton and Hove	8.53	7.03	1.50
75	0.2321	Portsmouth	9.71	8.01	1.70
76	0.2321	North Tyneside	7.73	6.47	1.26
77	0.2310	Southend-on-Sea	8.57	6.78	1.78
78	0.2313	Darlington	9.22	8.17	1.05
79	0.2311	Durham	8.13	7.44	0.68
80	0.2304	Torbay	8.34	6.87	1.47
81	0.2293	Hillingdon	8.36	6.93	1.43
82	0.2248	Dudley	8.00	7.01	1.00
83	0.2236	Wakefield	8.16	7.21	0.94
84	0.2224	Sefton	7.58	6.86	0.72
85	0.2157	Bury	7.41	6.92	0.49
86	0.2140	Lancashire	8.13	7.25	0.88
87	0.2135	Isle of Wight	7.88	7.10	0.78
88	0.2047	Trafford	6.79	6.11	0.68
89	0.2035	Bournemouth	7.77	7.10	0.66
90	0.2011	North Lincolnshire	8.16	7.27	0.89
91	0.2007	Wigan	7.74	7.13	0.60
92	0.2004	Milton Keynes	8.35	7.59	0.76
93	0.1966	Cornwall	8.37	7.58	0.79
94	0.1934	Thurrock	8.47	7.21	1.25
95	0.1925	Medway	7.80	7.20	0.60
96	0.1865	Bexley	8.20	7.09	1.11
97	0.1846	Nottinghamshire	8.79	7.05	1.75
98	0.1825	Northumberland	7.58	7.17	0.41
99	0.1738	Norfolk	8.80	7.78	1.02
100	0.1722	Bromley	7.83	6.82	1.00
101	0.1706	Stockport	7.82	6.88	0.94
102	0.1696	Havering	8.05	7.44	0.61
103	0.1687	Sutton	6.80	6.11	0.69
104	0.1684	Cumbria	7.74	6.81	0.94
105	0.1683	East Sussex	7.91	6.49	1.41
106	0.1670	Derbyshire	7.81	6.83	0.98
107	0.1659	Northamptonshire	8.55	7.39	1.16
108	0.1656	Lincolnshire	7.18	6.35	0.83
109	0.1640	Kent	7.91	7.09	0.82
110	0.1616	Poole	7.44	6.38	1.06
111	0.1602	Swindon	7.30	6.23	1.07
112	0.1589	Kingston upon Thames	6.89	6.55	0.33
113	0.1582	Devon	8.43	7.06	1.36
114	0.1571	York, City of	7.89	6.83	1.05
115	0.1567	Warrington	7.20	6.39	0.81
116	0.1567	Solihull	7.01	6.39	0.62
117	0.1541	Staffordshire	6.99	6.36	0.63
118	0.1509	Bedfordshire	6.40	5.98	0.42
119	0.1495	Suffolk	7.65	6.33	1.32
120	0.1482	Essex	8.00	7.00	1.00
121	0.1480	Worcestershire	7.45	6.85	0.60
122	0.1445	Herefordshire	7.79	6.81	0.99
123	0.1424	Somerset	7.56	6.74	0.82
124	0.1415	Cheshire	7.54	6.66	0.88
125	0.1403	East Riding of Yorkshire	7.60	6.93	0.67
126	0.1401	Richmond upon Tyne	8.68	6.69	1.99
127	0.1377	Gloucestershire	7.17	6.61	0.56
128	0.1353	Buckinghamshire	6.51	5.81	0.70
129	0.1338	Warwickshire	7.47	6.72	0.75
130	0.1328	Bath and North East Somerset	7.78	6.96	0.83
131	0.1323	Hertfordshire	7.56	6.81	0.75
132	0.1305	West Sussex	8.11	7.39	0.73
133	0.1302	Shropshire	6.91	6.46	0.45
134	0.1293	North Somerset	8.18	7.16	1.03
135	0.1293	Dorset	7.12	6.65	0.46
136	0.1257	Oxfordshire	7.50	6.30	1.19
137	0.1243	North Yorkshire	7.18	6.61	0.57
138	0.1197	Cambridgeshire	7.56	6.76	0.80
139	0.1175	Leicestershire	7.44	6.26	1.18
140	0.1774	South Gloucestershire	7.82	6.72	1.09
141	0.1156	Windsor and Maidenhead	7.40	6.65	0.75
142	0.1151	Wiltshire	7.61	6.88	0.73
143	0.1141	Hampshire	7.44	6.38	1.06
144	0.0995	Bracknell Forest	7.14	6.44	0.70
145	0.0960	West Berkshire	7.23	6.37	0.86
146	0.0930	Surrey	7.93	6.85	1.09
147	0.0775	Wokingham	7.25	6.44	0.80
148	0.0688	Rutland	6.56	6.15	0.41

Note: Isles of Scilly and City of London excluded as they have no secondary schools.

28 February 2005

---

---

---

Prepared 19 January 2006