Leeds council concern as unauthorised school absences continue to rise across city, new data confirms

Department for Education figures, attained by the Yorkshire Evening Post, revealed over 830,000 unauthorised absences across the autumn and spring terms of 2022/23 in state-funded Leeds schools.

This represented a significant increase of 33 per cent from across the same period in 2021/22 (624,000) and comes amid growing national numbers since the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020.

Evidence presented to MPs last April, found that parents are more cautious about sending their children to school with minor ailments as a result of public health messaging during the pandemic.

A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: "It is always our belief that the best place for children and young people to be in term-time is in school. Missing lessons can lead to children falling behind, and those with poor attendance tend to achieve less in both primary and secondary school.

"Like many local authorities across the country, Leeds has experienced an increase in school absence post-pandemic and there are currently national campaigns taking place to encourage improved attendance across the UK."

Data revealed the most stark increase was in secondary school absences with 546,506 pupils missing school in the autumn and spring of 22/23 as opposed to 392,819 missing school during the autumn and spring of 21/22.

Primary school absences from across the same period rose from 219,026 to 267,856 while the totals in state-funded special schools increased from 12,429 to 16,247.

A council spokesperson added: "In Leeds, we also have a number of ongoing initiatives in place including School Attendance Service drop-ins, direct support for families struggling to manage attendance and proactive campaigns to encourage positive starts to each new academic year.

"SAFE Taskforce Education Inclusion Mentors are also in place across the city to support young people where their attendance at school is a concern and Attendance Improvement Officers in schools have worked with vulnerable families to encourage a good start in September while also helping to remove barriers to starting like signposting to free uniform sessions.

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"We will continue to work with schools, families, parents and communities to identify any obstacles to good attendance and ensure children can be in school as much as possible."

A DfE study in 2019 found that on average, pupils with higher absence rates over key stage 4 (year ten to year eleven) had lower GCSE attainment.