Children attending Westmorland and Furness Council-run schools are better at avoiding “persistent absences” than the rest of the country, according to new data.
A student attending school in England is defined as being persistently absent if 10 per cent or more of class sessions are missed.
Across primary, secondary and special schools, Westmorland and Furness pupils have consistently attended school more often through weeks 8-28 than the rest of England.
On average, 9.7 per cent of primary school children in Westmorland and Furness schools were classed as persistently absent, compared to 14 per cent nation-wide.
For secondary schools, it was 21.6 per cent compared to 23.2 per cent and for special schools, the averages were 32.9 per cent opposed to 35.2 per cent across England.
The data was taken every other week at each school nationally, meaning each school submitted data at every interval.
While the reasons for persistent absences are yet to be released, in previous years, the most common reason given for absence was illness.
Local councils have the power to fine parents £80 each for absence without a good reason, with that number doubling if they don’t pay within three weeks.
If parents continually don’t pay fines, they could be charged £2500, given a community order or a three-month jail sentence.
It became compulsory for schools to share attendance data with the Department of Education at the start of the 2024-2025 school year.
Report by Kieran Molloy (Local Democracy Reporting Service)
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