5.91% absent, and illness was just over half of it
What happened
On 8 October 2026 the Department for Education published its latest fortnightly school attendance figures for England. The release covers the week beginning 21 September 2026 - one of the first full weeks of the new school year. The headline: overall absence was 5.91%. That means attendance was 94.09%. Illness accounted for about 3.02% - just over half of all absence. The figure is slightly better than the same point last year. Absence was 0.11 percentage points lower than in the equivalent week of 2025/26. Within that, authorised absence fell by 0.04 points and unauthorised absence fell by 0.07 points. For the academic year so far, covering 7 September to 25 September 2026, overall absence stands at 5.33%. The picture differs sharply by school type. In that week: - primary schools: 3.11% authorised absence, 1.21% unauthorised - secondary schools: 4.89% authorised, 2.51% unauthorised - special schools: 9.16% authorised, 3.33% unauthorised These are described as estimates, and the department expects them to change as registers are adjusted.
Why this matters
School attendance has been one of the most stubborn problems in English education since the pandemic, and the numbers above are a small piece of good news within it. A 0.11 percentage point improvement sounds tiny. Across roughly nine million pupils, it is not nothing - though it is far from transformative, and one week is one week. The more useful thing in this release is the shape of the absence, rather than the total. Illness at 3.02% is the single biggest component, and it is the one most within a family's influence - not by sending ill children to school, but by knowing which illnesses genuinely require time off and which do not. The gap between primary and secondary is the other thing worth noticing. Unauthorised absence in secondary schools is more than double the primary rate. That is the pattern that tends to harden into persistent absence, and it is why schools chase a single missed afternoon in Year 9 more energetically than parents sometimes expect. Special schools show much higher authorised absence, at 9.16%. That is largely a reflection of medical needs and appointments, not of attitudes to school, and it is important not to read it as a behaviour story.
What the evidence actually says
A few things are worth getting right about these figures. They are estimates, not final counts. The department says so explicitly, and expects them to change as registers are adjusted. The accredited official statistics, published less often, carry more weight for any serious comparison. This release is a fortnightly snapshot at national, regional and local authority level. It does not tell you about individual schools, and it is not the detailed termly data. It also does not include persistent absence or severe absence figures. Those matter enormously - persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions - but they are published in the more detailed releases, not in this one. So if you see this week's figure quoted as evidence about the persistent absence crisis, that is a stretch. For context from the more detailed data: in the 2025/26 autumn term, the overall absence rate was 6.47%, persistent absence was 18.1% - around 1.29 million pupils - and 2.12% of pupils were severely absent. Comparing 5.91% for one September week to 6.47% for a whole autumn term would be a mistake. Absence generally rises through the autumn as winter illness arrives. A September week is close to the easiest week of the term. So the fair summary is: a modest year-on-year improvement in an early week, measured on a provisional basis, with the harder part of the year still ahead.
Qurexa perspective
Illness is just over half of all school absence, and a decent share of that is minor illness where the question is simply whether a child is well enough to be in class. We deliver prescriptions and groceries across Lincolnshire, and the practical squeeze we see at this time of year is familiar: a child needs their inhaler, their antibiotic or just some children's paracetamol, and the parent is already juggling a day off work. Two honest suggestions. If your child has a long-term condition such as asthma or epilepsy, make sure the school has an in-date supply and a current care plan before winter properly arrives - October is the right month to check. And if collecting a repeat prescription is what keeps slipping, delivery takes one job out of the week.
Practical advice
The single most common parent question here is: when should I keep my child off? The NHS and UKHSA guidance is clearer than most people expect, and it errs towards school more often than parents assume. Generally keep them off for: a temperature of 38°C or above, vomiting or diarrhoea until 48 hours after the last episode, chickenpox until all spots have crusted over, and impetigo until the sores have crusted or they have had antibiotics for 48 hours. Generally they can go in with: a cough or cold without a temperature, a sore throat, a mild headache, head lice once treatment has started, hand, foot and mouth if they are well enough, and conjunctivitis. If you are unsure, ring the school office. They would far rather advise than guess, and they deal with this daily. NHS 111 can help with the medical side. Three other practical points. Tell the school on the first morning of any absence, and say what is wrong. Unexplained absence is recorded as unauthorised even when the reason was perfectly good. Term-time holidays are almost never authorised, and penalty notices are issued for unauthorised holiday absence. If you have an unavoidable reason, ask in advance and in writing rather than afterwards. And if your child is anxious about school rather than ill, say that plainly to the school early. Schools have far more options for anxiety-related absence than for a pattern they have been told is illness, and the earlier they know, the more those options are worth.
What to know
On 8 October 2026 the Department for Education published fortnightly pupil attendance figures for England. In the week beginning 21 September 2026, overall absence was 5.91%, meaning 94.09% attendance. Illness made up about 3.02%, just over half of all absence. That was 0.11 percentage points better than the equivalent week last year, with authorised absence down 0.04 points and unauthorised down 0.07. Year to date, covering 7 to 25 September 2026, absence stands at 5.33%. By school type that week: primary 3.11% authorised and 1.21% unauthorised; secondary 4.89% and 2.51%; special schools 9.16% and 3.33%. These are estimates and will change as registers are adjusted. The release does not include persistent or severe absence. For context, in the 2025/26 autumn term overall absence was 6.47%, persistent absence 18.1% (around 1.29 million pupils) and severe absence 2.12% - but a single September week is not comparable to a full autumn term, since absence usually rises as winter arrives. For parents: keep children off for a temperature of 38°C or above, and for 48 hours after vomiting or diarrhoea stops. Coughs and colds without a temperature, sore throats and conjunctivitis are generally fine. Always ring the school on the first morning and say what is wrong, or the absence may be recorded as unauthorised. Sources: Department for Education, "Pupil attendance in schools", Week 39 2026, published 8 October 2026, https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-attendance-in-schools ; Department for Education, "Pupil attendance in schools" statistics collection, accessed 9 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/pupil-attendance-in-schools ; Tes, "Pupil absence increased in autumn term last year", 6 August 2026, https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/autumn-absence-rise-englands-schools This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional.
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