School Absence by Council: Persistent and Severe Rates (2026)
In 2024/25, 1,340,437 children in England were persistently absent (18.1% of pupils) and 176,361 were severely absent (2.39%), meaning they missed at least half of school. Here is the part the headlines miss: persistent absence has been improving since 2021/22, while severe absence has risen 44%. The average is recovering. The children at the far end are getting further away.
School absence is usually reported as a story about truancy and fines. The Department for Education’s own figures tell a different and more uncomfortable story, and it is one that leads directly to the 126,000 children now being educated at home.
The number that is moving the wrong way
Across England in 2024/25, of 7,388,150 pupils:
- 1,340,437 were persistently absent, missing 10% or more of sessions. That is 18.1%, down from 22.5% in 2021/22.
- 176,361 were severely absent, missing 50% or more. That is 2.39%, up from 1.65% in 2021/22, a rise of 44.5%.
Both things are true at once, which is why the subject gets reported badly. Attendance overall is recovering from the post-pandemic peak. The group of children who are barely in school at all has grown by nearly half. An average that improves while its tail worsens is not good news, it is a widening gap.
It is concentrated where you would expect
- Primary schools: 13.0% persistently absent
- Secondary schools: 23.4%
- Special schools: 35.3%, with 6.91% severely absent
Read that last line again. More than a third of children in special schools are persistently absent, and around one in fourteen is missing half of school or more. These are children whose needs are already formally recognised, who already have a specialist placement. Whatever is going wrong is not going wrong for want of a diagnosis.
The councils with the highest special school absence:
- Newham: 54.8% persistently absent
- Portsmouth: 54.2% persistently absent
- Camden: 47.6% persistently absent
- Rochdale: 47.2% persistently absent
- Barking and Dagenham: 45.7% persistently absent
- Wandsworth: 45.3% persistently absent
- Waltham Forest: 45.3% persistently absent
- Reading: 44.8% persistently absent
Highest severe absence
Severe absence ranges from under 1% to 3.67% depending on the council. The highest:
- Sheffield: 3.67%, about 2,781 children
- Portsmouth: 3.55%, about 934 children
- Bradford: 3.43%, about 2,951 children
- Southampton: 3.36%, about 1,077 children
- Isle of Wight: 3.35%, about 492 children
- Torbay: 3.31%, about 567 children
- Plymouth: 3.30%, about 1,125 children
- Bristol, City of: 3.29%, about 1,814 children
- York: 3.27%, about 711 children
- Middlesbrough: 3.26%, about 728 children
We are not going to pretend a league table explains this. Deprivation, health, school supply and how each council records absence all feed into it. What the spread does show is that a child’s chance of ending up outside school entirely is not evenly distributed.
Every council in England
| Council | Persistent | Severe | Children severely absent | Secondary persistent | Special schools |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheffield | 21.3% | 3.67% | 2,781 | 27.1% | 35.5% |
| Portsmouth | 19.7% | 3.55% | 934 | 25.7% | 54.2% |
| Bradford | 23.1% | 3.43% | 2,951 | 31.0% | 36.7% |
| Southampton | 21.4% | 3.36% | 1,077 | 27.2% | 35.8% |
| Isle of Wight | 22.2% | 3.35% | 492 | 29.3% | 34.1% |
| Torbay | 19.1% | 3.31% | 567 | 23.3% | 39.8% |
| Plymouth | 20.8% | 3.30% | 1,125 | 29.1% | 32.3% |
| Bristol, City of | 22.2% | 3.29% | 1,814 | 29.3% | 44.2% |
| York | 17.5% | 3.27% | 711 | 23.9% | 24.2% |
| Middlesbrough | 22.1% | 3.26% | 728 | 30.0% | 29.7% |
| Brighton and Hove | 21.2% | 3.23% | 902 | 29.4% | 37.7% |
| Wakefield | 19.5% | 3.21% | 1,549 | 26.2% | 38.7% |
| Devon | 18.4% | 3.21% | 2,836 | 27.0% | 32.3% |
| East Sussex | 20.8% | 3.15% | 2,023 | 26.4% | 38.5% |
| Dorset | 19.5% | 3.14% | 1,290 | 24.6% | 30.3% |
| Barnsley | 18.6% | 3.11% | 984 | 25.8% | 37.2% |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 20.5% | 3.11% | 1,136 | 26.2% | 38.9% |
| Somerset | 18.9% | 3.06% | 1,977 | 24.9% | 40.5% |
| Coventry | 20.2% | 3.05% | 1,640 | 24.9% | 32.4% |
| Blackpool | 22.0% | 2.97% | 538 | 29.6% | 30.4% |
| Rotherham | 20.1% | 2.97% | 1,183 | 25.4% | 36.5% |
| Sefton | 21.0% | 2.96% | 1,063 | 28.7% | 32.5% |
| Sunderland | 20.9% | 2.96% | 1,050 | 28.4% | 34.2% |
| Leeds | 19.0% | 2.95% | 3,394 | 23.8% | 36.4% |
| Redcar and Cleveland | 19.5% | 2.92% | 534 | 25.3% | 37.3% |
| Oxfordshire | 17.8% | 2.92% | 2,530 | 24.4% | 31.8% |
| Warwickshire | 18.0% | 2.91% | 2,310 | 23.8% | 33.5% |
| Salford | 20.6% | 2.89% | 1,012 | 26.5% | 36.6% |
| Gateshead | 17.1% | 2.82% | 698 | 24.1% | 26.1% |
| St. Helens | 18.5% | 2.81% | 663 | 24.7% | 35.0% |
| Suffolk | 18.1% | 2.79% | 2,531 | 24.5% | 34.8% |
| Norfolk | 18.1% | 2.79% | 2,908 | 23.9% | 31.8% |
| Hartlepool | 19.7% | 2.79% | 363 | 26.6% | 28.6% |
| Nottingham | 20.6% | 2.77% | 1,226 | 25.4% | 36.7% |
| North East Lincolnshire | 19.8% | 2.76% | 592 | 28.6% | 24.0% |
| Liverpool | 20.9% | 2.75% | 1,816 | 27.0% | 35.6% |
| Tameside | 18.4% | 2.75% | 940 | 25.0% | 32.4% |
| Dudley | 20.1% | 2.74% | 1,184 | 26.2% | 30.2% |
| Darlington | 20.1% | 2.73% | 392 | 25.6% | 23.1% |
| South Gloucestershire | 17.3% | 2.72% | 1,012 | 24.0% | 32.7% |
| Northumberland | 17.8% | 2.71% | 1,017 | 22.4% | 37.1% |
| Walsall | 21.6% | 2.69% | 1,228 | 27.4% | 33.1% |
| South Tyneside | 20.4% | 2.67% | 529 | 28.2% | 24.8% |
| North Yorkshire | 17.3% | 2.67% | 1,909 | 24.2% | 38.8% |
| Cornwall | 18.8% | 2.67% | 1,765 | 26.3% | 33.4% |
| Kingston upon Hull, City of | 19.9% | 2.67% | 1,015 | 25.7% | 35.7% |
| North Somerset | 17.9% | 2.66% | 749 | 24.8% | 29.9% |
| Stockton-on-Tees | 19.3% | 2.65% | 740 | 27.1% | 29.3% |
| Cambridgeshire | 16.2% | 2.63% | 2,182 | 20.9% | 35.3% |
| North Northamptonshire | 17.8% | 2.62% | 1,304 | 23.5% | 35.2% |
| Rutland | 14.2% | 2.61% | 140 | 18.2% | – |
| North Lincolnshire | 18.0% | 2.60% | 583 | 24.0% | 27.6% |
| Wiltshire | 16.0% | 2.60% | 1,621 | 22.4% | 31.6% |
| Halton | 21.7% | 2.59% | 445 | 28.5% | 32.3% |
| Wirral | 20.4% | 2.58% | 1,108 | 25.4% | 35.4% |
| Knowsley | 24.4% | 2.57% | 480 | 32.0% | 38.5% |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 19.7% | 2.56% | 948 | 26.9% | 39.1% |
| West Northamptonshire | 16.5% | 2.53% | 1,511 | 21.5% | 33.1% |
| Worcestershire | 18.2% | 2.52% | 1,815 | 23.0% | 36.6% |
| Essex | 18.1% | 2.51% | 4,983 | 23.6% | 33.5% |
| Milton Keynes | 17.7% | 2.51% | 1,147 | 23.6% | 36.6% |
| Islington | 22.4% | 2.50% | 470 | 26.3% | 41.8% |
| Manchester | 18.8% | 2.50% | 2,093 | 21.6% | 39.4% |
| Swindon | 17.2% | 2.50% | 836 | 23.9% | 34.2% |
| Cheshire West and Chester | 17.7% | 2.49% | 1,116 | 24.7% | 31.0% |
| Camden | 23.2% | 2.48% | 404 | 29.7% | 47.6% |
| Stockport | 16.6% | 2.48% | 962 | 22.8% | 34.4% |
| Leicester | 19.4% | 2.48% | 1,369 | 22.6% | 42.1% |
| Bath and North East Somerset | 16.8% | 2.48% | 572 | 22.7% | 36.5% |
| West Berkshire | 16.5% | 2.48% | 549 | 21.4% | 31.3% |
| Bury | 18.7% | 2.47% | 655 | 25.2% | 41.5% |
| Solihull | 18.3% | 2.47% | 841 | 23.2% | 43.3% |
| Lincolnshire | 18.3% | 2.45% | 2,358 | 24.1% | 36.6% |
| County Durham | 19.4% | 2.45% | 1,521 | 25.4% | 34.4% |
| Reading | 19.0% | 2.45% | 516 | 23.3% | 44.8% |
| Hampshire | 15.8% | 2.44% | 4,189 | 22.0% | 34.9% |
| Birmingham | 21.0% | 2.44% | 4,431 | 24.8% | 41.2% |
| Derbyshire | 15.8% | 2.40% | 2,256 | 21.7% | 28.6% |
| Rochdale | 20.0% | 2.39% | 848 | 26.2% | 47.2% |
| Kent | 19.4% | 2.39% | 5,210 | 23.9% | 40.2% |
| Medway | 18.8% | 2.37% | 1,054 | 22.6% | 33.4% |
| Gloucestershire | 17.2% | 2.35% | 1,923 | 22.5% | 32.4% |
| Derby | 19.5% | 2.32% | 944 | 23.8% | 37.6% |
| West Sussex | 17.6% | 2.32% | 2,486 | 23.7% | 34.6% |
| Doncaster | 18.3% | 2.30% | 982 | 24.2% | 30.9% |
| Nottinghamshire | 16.6% | 2.29% | 2,521 | 22.5% | 30.4% |
| Lancashire | 17.6% | 2.26% | 3,644 | 23.3% | 29.6% |
| Leicestershire | 15.4% | 2.24% | 2,051 | 21.8% | 26.8% |
| Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 16.6% | 2.23% | 1,042 | 21.5% | 35.9% |
| Windsor and Maidenhead | 17.9% | 2.20% | 429 | 22.3% | 38.9% |
| Kirklees | 17.6% | 2.19% | 1,333 | 21.8% | 34.0% |
| Wigan | 17.5% | 2.19% | 966 | 22.9% | 30.4% |
| Sandwell | 19.7% | 2.19% | 1,231 | 24.3% | 36.3% |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 20.8% | 2.18% | 240 | 25.2% | 29.7% |
| Blackburn with Darwen | 19.1% | 2.18% | 556 | 24.5% | 37.8% |
| Cumberland | 16.3% | 2.18% | 727 | 23.2% | 22.7% |
| Newham | 19.6% | 2.17% | 1,165 | 20.6% | 54.8% |
| Central Bedfordshire | 16.3% | 2.17% | 901 | 20.0% | 34.7% |
| Telford and Wrekin | 16.7% | 2.16% | 614 | 21.6% | 28.2% |
| North Tyneside | 16.5% | 2.15% | 564 | 20.9% | 27.5% |
| Peterborough | 18.9% | 2.13% | 784 | 24.1% | 35.7% |
| Bedford | 18.1% | 2.10% | 582 | 24.4% | 26.4% |
| Buckinghamshire | 17.8% | 2.10% | 1,584 | 23.3% | 37.3% |
| Surrey | 15.1% | 2.09% | 2,993 | 19.4% | 32.9% |
| Westminster | 22.1% | 2.09% | 342 | 24.0% | 37.8% |
| Southend-on-Sea | 17.7% | 2.07% | 558 | 20.8% | 32.7% |
| Hertfordshire | 16.7% | 2.06% | 3,455 | 21.6% | 34.4% |
| Shropshire | 17.5% | 2.05% | 721 | 23.7% | 40.7% |
| Oldham | 18.9% | 2.02% | 825 | 22.1% | 41.8% |
| Thurrock | 16.6% | 2.00% | 567 | 20.8% | 27.5% |
| Cheshire East | 14.8% | 1.98% | 978 | 20.4% | 34.6% |
| Croydon | 18.7% | 1.96% | 971 | 23.9% | 35.7% |
| Bolton | 18.3% | 1.95% | 943 | 23.1% | 34.6% |
| Calderdale | 17.0% | 1.93% | 598 | 22.4% | 25.6% |
| Herefordshire, County of | 15.9% | 1.91% | 413 | 22.0% | 35.3% |
| Westmorland and Furness | 15.6% | 1.89% | 489 | 22.1% | 30.6% |
| East Riding of Yorkshire | 16.9% | 1.87% | 739 | 23.8% | 26.2% |
| Haringey | 18.9% | 1.87% | 584 | 22.7% | 38.6% |
| Lambeth | 18.7% | 1.86% | 539 | 21.3% | 33.7% |
| Ealing | 18.2% | 1.82% | 830 | 22.8% | 33.4% |
| Staffordshire | 15.8% | 1.81% | 2,002 | 20.9% | 28.8% |
| Warrington | 14.4% | 1.79% | 538 | 20.1% | 37.0% |
| Bracknell Forest | 14.1% | 1.79% | 295 | 19.8% | 27.7% |
| Wolverhampton | 17.7% | 1.77% | 755 | 20.9% | 32.8% |
| Enfield | 19.0% | 1.74% | 817 | 23.2% | 39.1% |
| Bexley | 15.7% | 1.73% | 633 | 19.5% | 35.6% |
| Greenwich | 17.1% | 1.72% | 655 | 21.0% | 36.8% |
| Hillingdon | 19.2% | 1.67% | 735 | 22.4% | 37.6% |
| Isles of Scilly | 17.8% | 1.66% | 4 | 17.8% | – |
| Slough | 18.6% | 1.66% | 477 | 21.7% | 38.2% |
| Southwark | 17.2% | 1.65% | 576 | 19.1% | 38.4% |
| Bromley | 15.2% | 1.63% | 721 | 19.6% | 37.4% |
| Hackney | 17.8% | 1.63% | 446 | 22.0% | 29.8% |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 19.1% | 1.61% | 258 | 21.8% | 37.9% |
| Lewisham | 16.6% | 1.53% | 504 | 19.5% | 33.3% |
| Wandsworth | 17.0% | 1.53% | 390 | 20.1% | 45.3% |
| Havering | 15.2% | 1.53% | 590 | 19.1% | 38.9% |
| Kingston upon Thames | 15.0% | 1.49% | 327 | 18.3% | 39.3% |
| Sutton | 14.7% | 1.48% | 506 | 17.1% | 36.8% |
| Waltham Forest | 18.5% | 1.48% | 537 | 23.7% | 45.3% |
| Luton | 17.7% | 1.48% | 565 | 21.7% | 36.2% |
| Barking and Dagenham | 17.9% | 1.48% | 595 | 19.1% | 45.7% |
| Wokingham | 14.3% | 1.46% | 378 | 19.3% | 31.0% |
| Richmond upon Thames | 12.4% | 1.45% | 361 | 16.9% | 27.5% |
| Hounslow | 17.8% | 1.38% | 524 | 20.2% | 34.9% |
| Trafford | 12.6% | 1.35% | 506 | 15.5% | 28.3% |
| Merton | 14.9% | 1.34% | 310 | 18.3% | 41.3% |
| Harrow | 16.0% | 1.32% | 450 | 21.3% | 37.8% |
| Barnet | 15.6% | 1.26% | 647 | 19.0% | 38.9% |
| Brent | 17.0% | 1.23% | 507 | 20.6% | 32.0% |
| Tower Hamlets | 18.3% | 1.21% | 431 | 18.0% | 42.1% |
| Redbridge | 17.7% | 1.20% | 582 | 19.2% | 42.4% |
| City of London | 6.0% | 0.00% | – | – | – |
What the numbers include, and what they are not
A session is half a school day. Persistent absence is missing 10% or more of possible sessions, roughly a day a fortnight. Severe absence is missing 50% or more.
These counts include authorised absence. Illness, hospital appointments, an agreed part-time timetable and an unmet special educational need all sit in the same figure as truancy. A high number is not a measure of parents not bothering, and treating it that way is how families in real difficulty get handled as a discipline problem.
Much of what shows as severe absence is a child who cannot manage school rather than one who will not. Anxiety-based school avoidance, unsupported SEND, bullying and mental ill health all produce the same statistic.
Where it leads
Severe absence is the clearest signal before a family leaves the system altogether. Set these figures beside the other two datasets and the sequence is hard to miss: attendance breaks down, support is refused or delayed, and the family withdraws.
- Home education by council: 126,000 children, up 12.8% in a year, peaking at Year 11.
- EHCP refusal rates by council: councils refused 29% of assessment requests, while 93.6% of completed assessments found the child needed a plan.
- School refusal: a parent’s guide
- Home educating an anxious child
Common questions
What is persistent absence?
Missing 10% or more of possible school sessions across the year, which is roughly one day a fortnight. A session is half a school day, and authorised absence such as illness counts towards the total.
What is severe absence?
Missing 50% or more of possible sessions, so the child is out of school at least as often as they are in it. In 2024/25 this applied to 176,361 children in England, or 2.39% of pupils.
Is school absence getting better or worse in England?
Both, depending on which figure you look at. Persistent absence has fallen from 22.5% in 2021/22 to 18.1% in 2024/25. Severe absence has risen over the same period from 1.65% to 2.39%, an increase of about 44.5%.
Which children miss the most school?
Pupils in special schools, by a clear margin: 35.3% were persistently absent and 6.91% severely absent in 2024/25, against 13.0% persistent absence in primary and 23.4% in secondary.
Can I be fined if my child does not attend school?
If your child is registered at a school, section 444 of the Education Act 1996 makes it an offence for a parent to fail to secure regular attendance without a lawful reason, and councils can issue penalty notices or prosecute. Illness is a lawful reason. The duty applies to children on a school roll, so it does not apply to a child who has been lawfully deregistered for home education.
Sources
- Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 academic year. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Education Act 1996, section 444.
- Department for Education, Elective home education, autumn term 2025/26.
Use the data
The full dataset behind this page is available as JSON: /data/school-absence-by-council.json. It contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, sourced from the Department for Education. Free to reuse, and a link back is appreciated.
This is information, not legal advice
Darling Mellow is a parenting website. We are not solicitors, we are not regulated to give legal advice, and nothing here is advice about your particular child or situation. We write about the law in England, we date everything and we link our sources so you can check them. Deadlines and duties change, and only you know your full circumstances, so please take proper advice before making a decision that matters.
Where to get free or regulated advice
- Your local SENDIASS. Free, confidential and impartial, and every council in England must provide one. Find yours through your council’s SEND Local Offer, or via GOV.UK.
- IPSEA. A charity with legally trained advisers, giving free advice on SEND law in England. Their guidance is the best free legal explanation available.
- Legal aid, through Civil Legal Advice on 0345 345 4345 (Monday to Friday 9am to 8pm, Saturday 9am to 12.30pm). Special educational needs is one of the areas still covered. Legal aid can fund advice and help preparing a SEND Tribunal appeal, though not representation at the hearing itself. Check whether you qualify with the official legal aid checker.
- A solicitor regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Find an education law specialist through the Law Society’s Find a Solicitor, and you can confirm anyone is genuinely regulated on the SRA register.
If you are in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, the law and the services differ and you should use your own nation’s guidance.