From illnesses to unauthorised term-time holidays, many factors can drag school attendance down - but they can all have a significant influence on a child’s outcomes at school.
The Government’s full absence and attendance figures for the 2023/24 school year are out now. They show that the country overall absence rate - the percentage of half-days missed for all pupils - still lingers well above pre-pandemic figures, while the amount of ‘persistently absent’ pupils missing at least 10% of these half-day sessions also remains incredibly high - affecting 1 in 5 children.
It’s GCSE and A Level exam season at the moment, and another recent Department for Education report has shown just how much of a difference attendance can make to attainment. It 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 as those who only attended 90 to 95% of the time. This means missing just 10 days of school slashes the likelihood of getting a strong pass by around 50%.
Included with the Government’s attendance figures was the absence data for each state-funded secondary school in England. We’ve used this to take a closer look into how schools in the Wakefield Council area have done. Only schools with overall absence rates of 10% or lower have been included - excluding private and special schools - an incredible achievement for any school community.
Here were the 10 local secondary schools that met our criteria:
1. The King's School
At the top of the list is The King’s School, a secondary academy in Pontefract. In the 2023/24 school year, it had a low overall absence rate of just 7.54%. | Google
2. Carleton High School
Next up is this secondary academy in the Carleton area, Pontefract. In the 2023/24 school year, it too had a low overall absence rate of just 7.72%. | Google
3. St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College
St Wilfrid’s is a Catholic secondary academy and sixth form in Featherstone, east of Wakefield city. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an overall absence rate of 8.11%. | Google
4. Outwood Grange Academy
This is a secondary academy and sixth form in the Outwood area, Wakefield. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an overall absence rate of 8.31%. | Google
5. Ossett Academy and Sixth Form College
As its name might suggest, this is a secondary academy and sixth form in Ossett. It is a high academic performer, with an ‘above average’ GCSEs-based Progress 8 score in the last school year. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an overall absence rate of 8.38%. | Google
6. Castleford Academy
This is a secondary academy in Castleford, and the Wakefield area’s top performer overall when it came to Progress 8 scores in the last academic year. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an overall absence rate of 8.59%. | Google