Going to school regularly allows young people to make the most of all kinds of opportunities - and may even be tied to better exam outcomes.
The Government’s latest absence figures - for the full 2023/24 school year - suggest that across the country, attendance rates could be better. The overall absence rate - or the percentage of half-days missed for all pupils - still lingers stubbornly above pre-pandemic levels. One in five pupils were also labelled ‘persistently absent’ from class, meaning they missed at least 10% of these half-day sessions.
With this year’s secondary school GCSE and A Level exam season now in full swing, the important of regular attendance is drawn into sharp focus. A recent Department for Education report found that pupils who attended school nearly every day in Year 11 were almost twice as likely to achieve a Grade 5 in their English and Maths GCSEs, it found, compared to those who only attended 90 to 95% of the time. This means that missing just 10 days of school cuts the likelihood of getting a strong pass by around 50%.
Absences add up, so we’ve taken a look at how state-funded secondary schools - excluding private and special schools - in the South Tyneside Council area compare when it comes to pupils missing class for any reason. Here is how the area’s 8 local schools fared, from those with the lowest overall absence rates, to the highest:
1. Whitburn Church of England Academy
At the top of the list is this Anglican secondary academy and sixth form, which - as its name might suggest - is in Whitburn. It also had the highest GCSEs-based Progress 8 score of any secondary school in South Tyneside last year. In the 2023/24 school year, it had a low overall absence rate of just 7.32%. | Google
2. Harton Academy
Next up is this secondary academy and sixth form in the Harton area, South Shields. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an overall absence rate of 8.46%. | Google
3. St Joseph's Catholic Academy
St Joseph's is a Catholic secondary academy and sixth form in Hebburn. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an overall absence rate of 8.68%. | Google
4. St Wilfrid's RC College
St Wilfrid’s is another Catholic secondary academy and sixth form, this one in South Shields. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an overall absence rate of 9.16% - South Tyneside’s last school with an absence rate under 10%. | Google