Attendance at grant-aided schools 2015/16 – Summary Statistics

The Department of Education has today published a statistical bulletin which provides a summary of pupil attendance at grant-aided primary, post-primary and special schools.

Key Findings:

• The overall attendance rate for all grant-aided schools in 2015/16 was 94.6% of total half days. This was unchanged from 2014/15.
• The attendance rate for primary schools was 95.5% of total half days. The 4.5% of half days missed comprised 3.3% authorised and 1.2% unauthorised absence.
• The attendance rate for post-primary schools in 2015/16 was 93.5% of total half days with 6.5% of half days missed due to absence – 4.3% of which were authorised and 2.2% were unauthorised.
• The overall attendance rate for special schools was 90.2% of total half days. A total of 9.8% of half days were missed through absence, comprising 6.7% authorised absence and 3.1% unauthorised absence.
• The most common cause of absence in all schools was illness, which is an authorised absence. It accounted for 63.1% of absent half days in primary schools, 53.0% in post-primary schools and 48.4% in special schools in 2015/16. This equated to 2.8%, 3.5% and 4.7% of total half days respectively.

The bulletin can be viewed on the DE Website.

Notes to editors: 

1. Attendance data for the 2015/16 academic year was collected from all grant-aided primary, post-primary and special schools in Northern Ireland via the school census which was conducted in October 2016.
2. A further release containing a more detailed set of tables, including absence by pupil characteristics (e.g. gender, year group, ethnicity etc.) will be published on 23 February 2017.
3. Media enquiries to the Department of Education Press Office Tel: 028 9127 9207. Out of office hours, contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 0762 397 4383 and your call will be returned.

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