Persistent Absence
A pupil missing 10% or more of possible school sessions in an academic year.
A pupil is classed as persistently absent if they miss 10% or more of the possible school sessions in a single academic year. That works out to roughly one full week of school every half term.
Persistent absence (PA) is reported in school performance data and is used by Ofsted as one indicator of pastoral concern. National PA rates rose sharply after the 2020 - 2021 school closures and remain elevated.
The 10% threshold counts both authorised absence (illness, appointments, religious observance) and unauthorised absence (holidays in term-time, lateness without acceptable reason).
For parents, persistent absence figures matter in two ways:
- As a proxy for school culture. A school with low PA tends to be one where pupils want to be there.
- As a flag for SEND or wellbeing systems. Schools with strong pastoral and SEND provision tend to keep PA low even in challenging intakes.
When comparing schools, look at the PA figure alongside the school’s overall attendance rate and (where possible) the disadvantaged-pupil attendance rate.
More terms starting with P
Pastoral Care
The non-academic support a school provides for pupils' wellbeing, behaviour and personal development.
Progress 8
A measure of how much progress pupils make from the end of primary to the end of GCSE, expressed as a score around zero.
Pupil Premium
Additional funding paid to schools to support pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.