From illness, to truancy, to unauthorised term-time holidays, there are many different factors that can drive up a school’s absence rate.
But they can all have a marked effect on a young person’s attainment - all the way through to their GCSEs.
A recent Department for Education report found that pupils who attended school nearly every day in Year 11 were almost twice as likely to achieve a Grade 5 in their English and Maths GCSEs, compared to those who only attended 90 to 95% of the time. This meant that missing just 10 days of school reduced the likelihood of getting a strong pass by around 50%.
The Government’s absence and attendance figures for the full 2023/24 school year are also out now. Despite showing a small improvement on the year before, the overall absence rate - the percentage of half-days missed for all pupils - still lingers well above pre-pandemic figures. One in five pupils were also labelled ‘persistently absent’, meaning they are missing at least 10% of these half-day sessions.
We’ve taken a closer look at the state-funded secondary schools across the Dewsbury, Batley, Mirfield and Spenborough area - excluding private and special schools - to see how they measure up when it comes to absences for any reason. Here’s how they fared, from those with the lowest absence rates, to the highest:
13. St John Fisher Catholic Voluntary Academy
Rounding out our list of Dewsbury-area schools is St John Fisher, a Catholic secondary academy and sixth form in Dewsbury. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an overall absence rate of 14.94% - the highest in the immediate area. | Google