Why Attendance Matters
Having high rates of attendance to school has a positive impact in later life:
- Learning: Students stay ahead with schoolwork, making it more likely that they will achieve well.
- Friendships: High rates of attendance positively affect social relationships and wellbeing.
- Future prospects: Employers value reliability—good attendance habits developed in school carry through into later life.
We promote excellent attendance for every child and encourage pupils to attend whenever they are well enough to do so. While some absence due to illness or exceptional circumstances is unavoidable, every additional day in school improves a child's opportunity to learn, connect and succeed.
We have the belief that every missed session is a missed opportunity for students. Each moment of the school day is carefully planned out, with all opportunities in place so your child can succeed.
Attendance is a key factor in academic success. There are 190 school days in a year and although 90% attendance may seem acceptable it means that a child is only attending 171 of these days. If this occurred every year, they would have missed 4 months of school by the time they leave in year 11. Therefore, we are striving for children to attend at least 97% of school days a year - the equivalent of 182 days a school year (allowing for 8 days of illness, medical or other absence when necessary).
How many days/lessons will I miss?
The table below shows attendance percentages as number of days and lessons missed from school. Students are required to attend school for 190 days each year.
| Attendance | Equals days absent | Which is approximately weeks absent | Which means this number of lessons missed | Absence over 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 95% | 9 days | 2 weeks | 50 lessons | ¼ year |
| 90% | 19 days | 4 weeks | 100 lessons | ½ year |
| 80% | 38 days | 8 weeks | 200 lessons | 1 year |
| 70% | 59 days | 12 weeks | 300 lessons | 1 ½ years |
| 60% | 80 days | 16 weeks | 400 lessons | 2 years |
| 50% | 100 days | 20 weeks | 500 lessons | 2 ½ years |
Government (DfE) research suggests that 16 days absence or 92% attendance in any one year equals a full GCSE drop in attainment.