A summary of attendance in education settings from Monday 23 March to Thursday 12 November (excluding out of term dates as data not collected) and early years settings from Thursday 16 April to Thursday 12 November. The data covers England only.
From 12 October, the education settings survey changed and therefore some metrics that used to be presented have been discontinued. The changes were made to give more comprehensive data about how many pupils are isolating from school for different reasons. There are no comparable figures to these from previous weeks.
This publication provides a high-level national summary of estimates from the Department for Education's education settings survey and local authority early years survey. We are working to expand the scope of published data in future releases.
These statistics have been produced quickly in response to developing world events. The Office for Statistics Regulation, on behalf of the UK Statistics Authority, has reviewed them against several key aspects of the Code of Practice for Statistics and regards them as consistent with the Code’s pillars of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value
Figures are reported as of Thursday 12 November and are compared with Thursday 5 November.
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[1] Where COVID-19 related pupil absence categories are combined - for example to report the total proportion of pupils absent due to COVID-19 or the proportion self-isolating that are not a confirmed/suspected case - the proportion is reported as a range to account for possible double counting. Settings are asked to not count pupils in multiple categories, however analysis of responses found evidence of double counting. See ‘Comparability of attendance estimates and typical absence rates’ section of methodology for further details.
[2] The number of children in term time was estimated using outputs from the Childcare and early years survey of parents: 2019 and ONS National Population Projections: 2018 based.
[3] LAs are asked to send attendance in EY settings on a typical day of the week. We have calculated normal expected daily attendance based on estimates of the average number of days a child spends in formal childcare on any given day, using the Childcare and early years survey of parents: 2019. For further details please see the methodology section.
All data used in this release is available as open data for download
Browse and download individual open data files from this release in our data catalogue
Learn more about the data files used in this release using our online guidance
You can view featured tables that we have built for you, or create your own tables from the open data using our table tool
From the beginning of the autumn term in the 2020/21 academic year, all pupils, in all year groups, were expected to return to school full-time.
Between March 2020 and the end of the summer term, schools were asked to limit attendance to reduce transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19). The timeline is summarised below:
To help understand the impact of these decisions, the Department for Education (DfE) established a survey of schools and colleges in England. Schools and colleges are asked to report information to DfE each day.
The education settings survey was open between 23 March and 17 July 2020 and then reopened on 1 September 2020. The survey questions were changed on 1 September 2020 to reflect the expectation that all schools should prepare to open to all pupils. Additional changes to questions were made on 12 October 2020, detailed information on these amendments can be found in the methodology.
To help understand the impact of these decisions, from 6 April 2020, the Department of Education (DfE) asked local authorities (LAs) to regularly report to the DfE information on the number of children in attendance, including the number of settings open or closed. The focus of this survey was narrowed to early years settings from 16 April.
The early years local authority survey continues on a weekly basis. Ordinarily, fewer early years settings are open and fewer children are in attendance during school summer holidays. This is due to reduced demand for childcare and the closure of term-time only and school-based settings. Some children returned to early years settings on week commencing 31 August, with many more returning on week commencing 7 September. However, due to the weekly nature of the collection, the response rate and the fact that some providers started the autumn term with inset days, it is expected to take a few weeks before the early years attendance figures settle.
The volume and percentage of children in attendance from 10 September is not directly comparable with the previous data points due to a break in the time series. The number of three-year-olds eligible for funded childcare, and therefore attending early years settings, increases through the academic year. Attendance in settings decreases in the autumn when children move to reception. For more details on the break in the time series, please see the methodology section.
This data release includes data from the education settings survey from 23 March to 12 November (excluding out of term dates as data not collected) and early years settings from 16 April to 12 November.
The narrative in this document focuses on Thursday 12 November to maintain comparability with previous weeks. Data from Wednesday 9 September is included in the underlying data because this was the first time fewer than 1% of schools reported inset days since the survey reopened on Tuesday 1 September.
Non-response adjustments made to published figures from 9 September 2020 are summarised here. For the non-response adjustment methodology made to published figures from 23 March to 16 July 2020, see the July 21 publication.
The response rate among state-funded schools was 82% on 12 November. Open rate and attendance figures for state-funded schools in this release are adjusted to account for those that did not respond to the survey.
The methodology used from 9 September assumes that state-funded schools that did not respond were no more likely to be closed, ask pupils to self-isolate or have lower attendance than responding state-funded schools. This follows analysis of response patterns, data collected from a sample of non-responding schools, and comparison with data collected through regular phone calls between DfE and local authorities to identify any closed schools. Responses have been weighted to take account of differences in response rate between different school types.
To reflect the number of local authorities that were on half-term, adjustments to the methodology for figures between 19 - 23 October and 2 November.
See the methodology section for further detail.
For the local authority early years survey, figures for the number of settings open and closed and the number of children attending for those LAs which did not respond are estimated based on the proportions reported by LAs which did respond. The national estimate comprises reported figures from LAs which did respond combined with these estimates (see the methodology section). From 1 June onwards, this methodology has been revised to take into account the wider opening of early years settings.
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[4] All figures are for state-funded schools. State-funded schools are primary, secondary, special schools and alternative provision. Further education colleges, post-16 special institutions and independent schools are not included in these figures, however estimates for these settings are included in the ‘Open status and attendance by type of school or college’ section of this publication.
[5] Prior to 12 October, the Education Settings Survey asked schools and colleges to report if they were ‘fully open’ or ‘not fully open’ to identify those affected by COVID-19. In looking to balance the reporting burden, only those settings that self-identified as ‘not fully open’ due to asking pupils to self-isolate due to COVID-19 were asked to provide details on confirmed and suspected COVID-19 cases among pupils and on pupils isolating. The question on pupils isolating was framed in terms of ‘groups’ of pupils isolating, with scope for interpretation on what this constituted.
The data published today is not comparable to data prior to 12 October because the question we are asking has fundamentally changed. Previously a subset of schools and colleges were asked about groups of pupils isolating. Now all schools are asked about whether one individual pupil or more is isolating. See methodology for more information.
The overall absence rate in state-funded primary, secondary and special schools in England in the 2018/19 academic year was 4.7%. There are some differences in the calculation of this figure and our attendance estimates that affect comparability [6].
Department for Education guidance sets out that school attendance is mandatory from the beginning of the autumn term. Pupils with COVID-19 symptoms, or who have someone in their household who does, should not attend school. If someone who has attended school is tested positive for COVID-19, pupils they have been in close contact with will be asked to self-isolate.
We now collect more comprehensive data on pupils being asked to self-isolate, or with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19. We do not have comparable data for dates prior to 12 October.
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[6] 2018/19 overall absence rates include pupils aged 5-15 in state-funded primary, secondary and special schools. Our attendance estimates include 4-year olds in reception, 16-year olds in year 11 and all students in sixth forms. Pupils on roll in alternative provision (who have a higher than average absence rate) are included in our attendance estimates, but excluded from the 2018/19 overall absence rates. From 12 October, schools were asked to exclude nursery children from their response to the education settings survey. See methodology for further details.
[7] Where COVID-19 related pupil absence categories are combined - for example to report the total proportion of pupils absent due to COVID-19 or the proportion self-isolating that are not a confirmed/suspected case - the proportion is reported as a range to account for possible double counting. Numbers of pupils are presented as ‘up to’ the upper bound of the range. Settings are asked to not count pupils in multiple categories, however analysis of responses found evidence of double counting. See ‘Comparability of attendance estimates and typical absence rates’ section of methodology for further details.
[8] Includes pupils self-isolating due to potential contact with a case of coronavirus inside and outside the school.
Attendance of pupils with an EHCP and pupils with a social worker is typically lower than other pupils [9].
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[9] The attendance of pupils with EHCPs and children in need is typically lower than for other pupils. In the 2018/19 academic year, the overall absence rate was 8.7% for pupils with a statement of SEN or an EHCP and 11.4% for children in need see Pupil absence in schools statistics and characteristics of children in need statistics publication for more information. There are some differences in the calculation of these figures and our estimates that affect comparability. See our methodology for more details.
[10] Statistics: children in need and child protection Schools report on the form how many children with a social worker they have on roll. Our analysis suggests that the the total number of children with a SW differs by at least 30% compared to published figures for children with a social worker.
Response rate varies between school or college types, therefore some are more sensitive to the non-response methodology than others. Response rates were lower among some setting types, which means there is greater uncertainty around their estimates.
Table 1: Response rate and estimates of % open, % settings asked pupils to self-isolate and % attendance by school or college type on 12 November.
| Setting type | % response rate | % open [11] | % attendance [12] |
| State-funded primary | 82% | 99.7% | 90% |
| State-funded secondary | 81% | 99.6% | 83% |
| State-funded special | 82% | 98% | 76% |
| State-funded alternative provision | 74% | 98% | 58% |
| All state-funded schools | 82% | 99.6% | 86% |
| Independent schools | 51% | 99% | 92% |
| Special post-16 institutions | 71% | 99% | - |
| FE colleges | 90% | 99% | - |
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[11] Open rates are rounded to 1dp for state-funded primary, state-funded secondary and all state-funded schools. For other phases, rates are reported to 0dp and where 100% of settings report they are open, this is reported as 99% given level of uncertainty around these estimates due to lower response rates and/or small population sizes.
[12] Attendance rates are not yet reported for FE colleges or special post-16 institutions as we develop a methodology to account for the fact that some learners attend part-time.
The response rate to the early years local authority survey was 87%, with 132 out of 151 LAs submitting data on 12 November.
The following figures are adjusted for non-response. More information can be found in the Methodology section of this release.
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[13] Due to rounding, these do not always sum to 100%.
[14] The number of children in term time was estimated using outputs from the Childcare and early years survey of parents: 2019 and ONS National Population Projections: 2018 based.
[15] LAs are asked to send attendance in EY settings on a typical day of the week. We have calculated normal expected daily attendance based on estimates of the average number of days a child spends in formal childcare on any given day, using the Childcare and early years survey of parents: 2019. For further details please see the methodology section.
Attendance rates for vulnerable children
Attendance rates for vulnerable children are presented as a proportion of the estimated number of children aged 0-4 with an EHCP using formal childcare plus the total number of Children in Need aged 0-4. We do not have estimates of the number of Children in Need who usually use formal childcare. Therefore the attendance rate is presented to allow comparisons to be made over time, rather than the proportion of vulnerable children who would usually attend early years settings. This means this figure is not comparable with the proportion of children who usually attend childcare in term time.
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[16] 0 to 4 year olds excluding those in Reception classes. This is an estimate based on the 2019 Children in Need census and January 2020 school census.
These are Official Statistics and have been produced in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
This can be broadly interpreted to mean that these statistics are:
Find out more about the standards we follow to produce these statistics through our Standards for official statistics published by DfE guidance.
If you have a specific enquiry about Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic statistics and data:
Email
Datarequests.COVID@education.gov.uk
Telephone: Raffaele Sasso
037 0000 2288
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If you have a general enquiry about the Department for Education (DfE) or education:
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