Chronic absenteeism can unsurprisingly have quite an impact on a young person’s education.
The 2024/25 school year’s summer exam season is now in session. But just how well secondary school pupils do in their GCSEs can be influenced by their attendance, a recent Department for Education report shows.
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 core English and Maths GCSEs, compared to those who only attended 90 to 95% of the time. This means that missing just 10 days of school reduced the likelihood of getting a strong pass by around 50%.
The Government’s full absence and attendance figures for the 2023/24 school year are out now. Despite showing a small improvement on the year before, 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 are losing out on at least 10% of these half-day sessions.
We’ve taken a closer look at all of the state-funded secondary schools across the Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County council areas - excluding private and special schools - to see how they measure up when it comes to their overall absences. Local families may also notice that many were also amongst the county’s highest performers when it comes to GCSEs.
Here are the 12 Nottinghamshire schools with the lowest absence rates:
5. The Becket School
The Becket School is a Catholic secondary academy and sixth form in West Bridgford, with an ‘above average’ Progress 8 score off the back of last year’s exam season. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an overall absence rate of 6.22%. | Google
6. Bluecoat Aspley Academy
This is a Catholic secondary academy and sixth form, the Aspley area of Nottingham. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an overall absence rate of 6.27%. | Google
7. Nottingham Free School
Another school with an ‘above average’ GCSEs performance last year, this is a secondary free school and sixth form, again in Nottingham. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an overall absence rate of 6.56%. | Google
8. Fernwood School
Fernwood is a secondary academy in Nottingham’s Wollaton area, with a very high ‘well above average’ Progress 8 score. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an overall absence rate of 6.69%. | Google