To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) pupils and (b) teachers absent from (i) primary, (ii) secondary and (iii) special schools in each (A) region and (B) local authority area for the weeks beginning (1) 5 October, (2) 12 October, (3) 2 November and (4) 9 November 2020 for which information is available; and if he will publish weekly breakdowns on a monthly basis.
Answered on
2 December 2020
We collect data on both the open status of schools, the number of schools that have indicated they have sent children home due to COVID-19 containment on a daily basis, and the total number of pupils in attendance. This data is published from this collection at a national level as part of the official statistics series. The publication can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak. Data is published from 9 September 2020, but prior to 12 October 2020 information on pupils isolating was not collected.
The department intends to publish regional and local authority level data on 15 December. Also, the department intends to publish school workforce attendance data from the new year. This data will be included as part of the publication ‘Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (Covid 19) outbreak’.
The frequency of the publication ‘Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (Covid 19) outbreak’ will be reviewed in the new year.
The department is constantly reviewing the content of its publications. Announcements about future content will be made through the official statistics release page: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/statistics.