Autumn Term 2025/26 School Absence Data Explained: How to Read Your School's New Attendance Figures
DfE's first autumn 2025/26 attendance data is out. See what the termly absence rates mean and how to check your school's figures on School Atlas.
Key takeaways
- DfE's autumn term 2025/26 attendance data is the first termly attendance snapshot of the new academic year, published alongside authorised/unauthorised absence breakdowns.
- Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means missing 50% or more — both are standard DfE definitions, not new terms.
- From 10 November 2025, Ofsted report cards judge Attendance as its own evaluation area on a five-point scale, separate from the old single-word overall grade (scrapped September 2024).
- School Atlas holds 16,435 verified primary/Reception catchment cut-off records and 5,051 secondary/Year 7 records, so you can weigh a school's attendance figures against your real admissions chances.
- Unauthorised term-time absence, including many term-time holidays, can lead to a penalty notice from the local authority in England.
- Always check your specific school's published rate rather than assuming it matches the national or local authority average.
What the Autumn Term 2025/26 School Absence Data Actually Shows
If you've spent August chasing GCSE and A-level results or sorting uniform for a new starter, you've probably missed a quieter data release: the Department for Education's first autumn term 2025/26 school absence data. It's easy to scroll past, but it's one of the clearest signals available about how a school is actually running day to day.
DfE publishes pupil attendance statistics termly, covering the whole of England at national, regional, local authority and individual school level. The autumn term figures (covering September to December 2025) are the first full data point of the 2025/26 academic year, separate from the previous year's full annual publication.
The headline numbers include the overall absence rate, a split between authorised and unauthorised absence, and the proportion of pupils classed as persistently or severely absent. Understanding what each of those actually means is the key to reading a school's figures correctly.
Key Terms: Authorised, Unauthorised, Persistent and Severe Absence
DfE's pupil absence categories aren't interchangeable, and a school's overall absence rate can look similar on paper while hiding very different underlying pictures.
How DfE Classifies Pupil Absence
| What it means | Typical examples | Why it matters | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authorised absence | The school has approved the reason | Illness, medical appointments, religious observance | Still counts in the overall rate but isn't treated as a compliance issue |
| Unauthorised absence | The school has not approved the reason | Term-time holidays, unexplained lateness, truancy | Can lead to a local authority penalty notice |
| Persistent absence (PA) | Missing 10% or more of possible sessions | A pattern of absence across the term, not one-off | Schools and local authorities prioritise support here |
| Severe absence | Missing 50% or more of possible sessions | Long-term non-attendance | Flagged for more intensive intervention |
What it means
- Authorised absence
- The school has approved the reason
- Unauthorised absence
- The school has not approved the reason
- Persistent absence (PA)
- Missing 10% or more of possible sessions
- Severe absence
- Missing 50% or more of possible sessions
Typical examples
- Authorised absence
- Illness, medical appointments, religious observance
- Unauthorised absence
- Term-time holidays, unexplained lateness, truancy
- Persistent absence (PA)
- A pattern of absence across the term, not one-off
- Severe absence
- Long-term non-attendance
Why it matters
- Authorised absence
- Still counts in the overall rate but isn't treated as a compliance issue
- Unauthorised absence
- Can lead to a local authority penalty notice
- Persistent absence (PA)
- Schools and local authorities prioritise support here
- Severe absence
- Flagged for more intensive intervention
Categories based on DfE's published pupil attendance statistics definitions.
How to Check School Attendance Rates by School
DfE publishes underlying attendance figures at individual school level, not just as national averages. That means you can, in principle, check the autumn term rate for the exact school you're considering rather than relying on a headline England-wide figure.
On School Atlas, you can view attendance alongside academic performance and Ofsted information for a school via league tables, or search more broadly through Explore schools. Looking at attendance next to results and inspection outcomes gives a fuller picture than any single figure alone.
Why Attendance Now Sits Inside Ofsted's Report Card
Ofsted scrapped the single-word overall judgement (Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement, Inadequate) in September 2024. From 10 November 2025, inspections use a report card format that grades several evaluation areas separately on a five-point scale, from the strongest rating down to the one indicating urgent improvement is needed.
Attendance is one of those standalone evaluation areas, alongside Leadership & governance, Curriculum & teaching, Achievement, Behaviour & attitudes, Personal development & wellbeing, and the flagship new Inclusion area. Safeguarding is reported separately as Met or Not met.
One figure, several sources
Attendance, Admissions and Catchment: The Bigger Picture
Attendance data is only useful once you can compare it against a school you'd realistically get a place at. Most English primary and secondary schools don't have a fixed catchment boundary — admission is by distance, and the cut-off moves every year depending on demand.
School Atlas holds 16,435 verified primary/Reception "last distance offered" catchment cut-off records and 5,051 verified secondary/Year 7 records, showing how far from each school the last place was actually offered in the most recent admissions round. Our admissions-chances predictor uses this historic data to estimate a child's likelihood of an offer from their exact home postcode, and the catchment calculator lets you check distance trends for schools you're considering.
Term-Time Absence Rules and Penalty Notices in England
Under the Education Act 1996 (England), a parent can be issued a penalty notice by the local authority for unauthorised term-time absence, including many requests for holidays in term time. Headteachers retain discretion to authorise leave in exceptional circumstances, but this is decided case by case rather than as a right.
This is part of why unauthorised absence, not just overall absence, is worth checking separately in the autumn term data — it reflects how strictly a school applies these rules in practice.
How to read your school's autumn 2025/26 attendance figures
A quick way to work through the new data without getting lost in percentages.
Next Steps on School Atlas
Autumn term attendance data is a useful health check, but it works best alongside admissions and catchment evidence, not on its own. Use league tables to compare attendance and results together, run the admissions-chances predictor for your postcode, or start broader research with Explore schools.
Find the right school near you
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