Shocking figures reveal blight of unauthorised absences in Hampshire schools

Attendance remains one of the biggest obstacles secondary schools face across the country, with the county continuing to sit below the national average despite intervention.

Schools have faced a multitude of hurdles in the wake of the 2020 Covid pandemic, which caused unprecedented disruption to the education sector after schools were forced to close and teach remotely.

As a result, schools were shut for almost six months, with shocking new data from the Department of Education (DfE) revealing attendance remains higher than it was pre-pandemic.

For the academic year 2024/25, the national average of pupils severely absent was 2.39 per cent, an increase from 2.30 per cent in 2023/24.

In 2018/19, 0.85 per cent of pupils were severely absent demonstrating a clear gap in the amount of students absent for 50 per cent or more school sessions.

A Portsmouth City Council spokesperson said: “Regular school attendance is essential for children’s learning, wellbeing and long-term outcomes.

“Through the Portsmouth Education Partnership, the city council works closely with all the city’s schools to monitor, support and challenge school attendance.

“Attendance remains a national challenge following the pandemic. In Portsmouth, 2024/25 saw further improvement, with overall absence reducing to 7.8 per cent and persistent absence falling to 19.7 per cent. However, the city continues to sit below the national average, particularly for secondary‑age pupils, and severe absence has, in line with the national picture, increased.”

In the The News’ area, Park Community School in Havant was highlighted as one of the worst settings for truancy with an unauthorised absence rate of 8.9 per cent.

Meanwhile, St Edmund's Catholic School had an unauthorised rate of 1.11 per cent for 2024/25.

Last year, it was confirmed the secondary school, in Arundel Street, would serve as one of the country’s new attendance and behavioural hub to supports schools as they embark on a path of improvement.

In a previous interview with The News, Simon Graham, headteacher at St Edmund’s, said: “We were delighted to be selected by the DfE to be a national attendance and behaviour hub for the south east region.

“The concept is that we will help and support schools across the south east to improve their attendance and behaviour. That will entail working with schools across the region and sharing good practice, showing the things we do here at St Edmund’s, as well as bespoke packages working with individual schools on ten week plans to support improvement.

“It represents the hard work that staff do in terms of supporting students well-being, supporting academic outcomes, supporting the extra curricular activities of students.”

As of early 2026, the DfE had created a total of 93 attendance and behavioural hubs to provide support for around 5,000 schools as part of the Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) Programme in the UK.

The Portsmouth City Council spokesperson added: “The council and schools are taking a joined‑up approach to improving attendance, strengthening early help, data‑led intervention and coordinated support for children and families.

“Portsmouth is part way through a three‑year Department for Education Attendance Mentor Programme, providing targeted support to pupils with persistent absence. In addition, St Edmund’s Catholic School has been designated by the DfE as an Attendance Hub, supporting schools in Portsmouth and beyond to improve attendance through the sharing of effective practice.”

Tom Bennett, Department of Education’s attendance and behaviour ambassador, previously said: “Every child deserves a school that is safe and calm, where they can be treated with dignity- and so do all school staff.

“We’re drawing on the professional experience of some of the best schools in England that have successfully created exactly that.

“By helping to build relationships between these schools and their peers, we’ll be building a national network of expertise that can change the futures for generations of children.”

Primary schools are currently the least impacted by overall absence rates sitting at 5.20 per cent for 2024/25, compared to the 8.44 per cent total absence rate at secondary schools.

A Hampshire County Council spokesperson said: “While overall absence in Hampshire remains below the national average (6.46 per cent in the county versus 6.78 per cent nationally), this is still higher than absence rates prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We continue to work closely with schools to increase attendance, recognising that children benefit enormously from being in school consistently – both in terms of their academic attainment and personal wellbeing.

“We understand there can be various reasons why some children struggle to be in school, and where this is the case, our schools continue to work extremely hard in partnership with families to address any barriers and provide the additional support needed.”