Attendance at grant-aided schools 2015/16 – Summary Statistics
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Date published:
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.