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School Attendance and Exclusions
Pupil Absence
Overall state-funded primary, secondary and special school pupil absence (authorised and unauthorised, and accounting for the percentage of possible sessions missed) was 5.1% in Somerset in 2018/19, marginally above the national rate of 4.9%. Primary school absence in Somerset was 4.3% and Secondary school absence was 6.0%.
The Persistent Absence rate (that is, the proportion of pupils missing 10% or more possible sessions) was 8.3% in Somerset primary schools and 14.8% in secondary schools in 2018/19, with both rates above national averages.
Pupil Absence and Persistent Absence, Somerset 2016/17 to 2018/19
| State-funded primary | State-funded secondary | ||||
| Overall absence rate | Percentage of persistent absentees | Overall absence rate | Percentage of persistent absentees | ||
| 2016/17 | Somerset | 4.2% | 8.2% | 5.7% | 14.8% |
| England | 4.0% | 8.3% | 5.4% | 13.5% | |
| 2017/18 | Somerset | 4.3% | 8.3% | 6.0% | 15.2% |
| England | 4.2% | 8.7% | 5.5% | 13.9% | |
| 2018/19 | Somerset | 4.3% | 8.3% | 6.0% | 14.8% |
| England | 4.0% | 8.2% | 5.5% | 13.7% | |
Source: Department for Education. State-funded schools.
Exclusions from School
In 2018/19, there were 6,855 fixed period exclusions from Somerset state-funded primary, secondary and special schools, representing an exclusion rate of 9.71 (expressed as a percentage of the number of pupils on roll). This was a higher rate than the national average rate of 5.36.
In 2018/19, there were 99 permanent exclusions from Somerset schools, representing a rate of 0.14. This was above the national average rate (0.10).
Fixed Term and Permanent Exclusion rates, 2016/17 to 2018/19
| State-funded primary | State-funded secondary | ||||
| Fixed period exclusions (rate) | Permanent exclusions (rate) | Fixed period exclusions (rate) | Permanent exclusions (rate) | ||
| 2016/17 | Somerset | 2.35 | 0.03 | 13.02 | 0.27 |
| England | 1.37 | 0.03 | 9.40 | 0.20 | |
| 2017/18 | Somerset | 2.15 | 0.05 | 14.30 | 0.30 |
| England | 1.40 | 0.03 | 10.13 | 0.20 | |
| 2018/19 | Somerset | 3.21 | 0.04 | 18.37 | 0.28 |
| England | 1.41 | 0.02 | 10.75 | 0.20 | |
Source: Department for Education
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Did you know?
The number of cars and vans available for use by households in Somerset was 318,697 in 2011, an average of 14 cars per 10 households. Nationally, there were 12 cars per 10 households. - 2011 Census