Families rely on primary schools to help children master basic skills they’ll need for the rest of their lives.
But a recent Department for Education report found that absences add up, when it comes to how well young learners really grasp them. Pupils who attended school nearly every day in Year 6 were 1.3 times more likely to meet the Government’s expected standards in reading, writing and maths compared to pupils who only attended 90-95% of the time. This means missing just 10 days of school cuts their chances by around 25%.
The country’s national attendance rates show definite room for improvement. The Government’s latest absence and attendance figures, covering the full 2023/24 school year, show that 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 missed at least 10% of these half-day sessions.
With more than 250 primary schools in the Leeds City Council area alone, we’ve taken a deep dive into their absences over the past academic year, where children missed classtime for any reason. We’ve created a league table of the city’s state-funded schools with overall absence rates below 3.5% - an outstanding achievement for any school community.
Here are the 16 local schools that met the mark:
7. Shire Oak VC Primary School
Shire Oak is a local authority-maintained Catholic primary school in the Headingley area. It has about 209 pupils, and is another above average academic performer. In the 2023/24 school year, it too had an overall absence rate of 3.1%. | Google
8. Deighton Gates Primary School
Deighton Gates is a local authority-maintained primary school in Wetherby, an above average performer with about 210 pupils. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an overall absence rate of 3.2%. | Google
9. Horsforth Newlaithes Primary School
This is a local authority-maintained primary school in Horsforth. It has a roll size of about 420, and a very high proportion of pupils meeting the Government’s expected standard in reading, writing and maths. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an overall absence rate of 3.3%. | Google
10. Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Primary School
Immaculate Heart of Mary is a Catholic primary academy in the Moortown area. It has about 442 pupils, and boasts a strong academic performance too. In the 2023/24 school year, it also had an overall absence rate of 3.3%. | Google
11. Rothwell St Mary's RC Primary School
St Mary’s is a local authority-maintained Catholic primary school in Rothwell, with about 207 pupils and an above-average academic performance. In the 2023/24 school year, it once again had an overall absence rate of 3.3%. | Google
12. Talbot Primary School
This is a local authority-maintained primary school in the Roundhay area. It has a roll size of about 476, and a higher than average proportion of pupils meeting Government standards. In the 2023/24 school year, it too had an overall absence rate of 3.3%. | Google