Research and analysis
School attendance: annual and one-off events driving short-term absences
Analysis of reasons for absence during selected events to help schools and responsible bodies better understand and support the attendance of their pupils.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
This research uses pupils’ daily attendance data submitted by schools to showcase a number of different scenarios and their association with school attendance.
These include absence due to:
- medical or dental appointments
- broken weeks (weeks in the school year that do not consist of 5 whole days)
- religious observance
- birthdays
- agricultural shows
- concerts
Updates to this page
Published 9 June 2026