What the DfE’s attendance analysis means for schools and trusts

The Department for Education’s recent article on short-term absence highlights an important point for schools and trusts: attendance challenges are not always driven by one major issue. Often, they are shaped by smaller patterns that build over time and become more significant when viewed across a wider group of pupils, schools or communities.

The article explores how annual and one-off events can influence absence, including medical and dental appointments, broken weeks at the start or end of term, religious observances, birthdays and local events. The wider message is clear: to improve attendance, leaders need to understand not only who is absent, but when absence is happening, why it is happening and whether particular patterns are emerging.

When a single appointment becomes a missed day

One of the most striking examples in the report is medical and dental appointments. The DfE found that medical or dental appointments accounted for more than 8 million absence sessions. It also found that where pupils miss a morning session for a medical or dental appointment, a significant proportion go on to miss the afternoon session too.

In other words, what may begin as a single authorised absence can often become a full day away from school.

For schools, this matters. A pupil missing one session for an appointment may not appear to be a major concern in isolation. However, when this becomes a repeated pattern across a school or trust, the impact on learning time can be considerable.

The attendance impact of broken weeks

The report also draws attention to the impact of “broken weeks”, which are weeks in the school year that do not consist of five full days. These are often found at the beginning or end of term. The DfE found that schools with a broken final week in the 2024/25 academic year had an absence rate of 12.2%, compared with 9.6% for schools with a full final week.

For school and trust leaders, this is a useful finding because it links attendance not only to pupil behaviour or family decision-making, but also to wider organisational planning. The shape of the school calendar can have a measurable impact on attendance.

Local context can shape absence

The article also highlights how absence can be influenced by the wider context of pupils’ lives and local communities. Religious observances are an important and legitimate reason for absence when recorded appropriately, while other annual events can also affect attendance.

These examples may feel unusual, but they reinforce a wider point: attendance patterns are not always obvious from headline figures alone.

Questions leaders need to ask

Overall attendance remains important, but it is only one part of the picture. Leaders also need to ask more detailed questions:

• Which schools, key stages or pupil groups are improving or declining?

• Are authorised or unauthorised absences shifting over time?

• Are attendance gaps widening or narrowing for key groups?

• Are short-term absences contributing to wider patterns of lost learning?

• Are calendar decisions, local events or recurring behaviours having a measurable impact?

Identifying smaller patterns earlier

The DfE article reinforces that improving attendance is not only about responding once persistent absence has become embedded. It is also about identifying smaller moments, behaviours and patterns early enough to respond.

This may involve reviewing how appointment absences are managed, considering the impact of calendar decisions, understanding local context or identifying whether certain pupil groups are experiencing greater barriers to attendance.

Turning attendance data into action

Purple gives leaders a clear view of attendance trends across schools, key stages, pupil groups and time periods. Rather than relying on separate spreadsheets or manual reporting, leaders can compare attendance across their trust, explore equity gaps, review authorised and unauthorised absence patterns and identify where concerns may be emerging.

When schools and trusts can see these patterns clearly, they are better placed to make informed decisions, target support earlier and evaluate whether their actions are having an impact. Attendance data is powerful, but only when it is easy to understand, compare and act on.