Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak: 23 March to 25 June 2020

A summary of attendance in education settings since Monday 23 March and early years settings since Thursday 16 April.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said:  

“The very best place for children to be is in the classroom, which is why we have set out our plans for all young people to return to education full-time from September.

“I know how challenging the last three months have been for teachers, school leaders and support staff, including adapting to welcome more children back into the classroom. Last week, almost 1.6 million pupils were back at schools and colleges, which is a testament to their outstanding work.

“I want to reassure parents and families that we are doing everything we can to make sure schools are as safe as possible for children and staff, and will continue to work closely with the country’s best scientific and medical experts to ensure that is the case.”

Attendance statistics are published on a weekly basis, looking back at the previous school week. This week’s data is available up to Thursday 2 July.

Our narrative continues to focus on comparisons between Thursdays to maintain comparability with previous weeks. Comparisons are made between Thursday 2 July and Thursday 25 June.

Around 71% of schools and colleges respond to the education settings survey. Before being published, the figures are adjusted to provide a national picture.

Our estimates show around 1,599,000 pupils attended schools and colleges last week.

• On Thursday 2 July, an estimated 94% of state-funded primary and secondary schools and collegeswere open in some capacity.
• An estimated 88%of schools usually open to children in nursery, reception, year 1 or year 6 were open to at least one of these year groups on 2 July, a slight reduction from 89% on 25 June.
• Attendance was highest in year 6, with an estimated 44% of all year 6 children in attendance on 2 July, up from 41% on 25 June.
• Attendance was around 28% in year 1, up from 34%, and 40% in reception, up from 36% on 25 June.
• We estimate that on 2 July, 382,000 children were attending early years settings, up from 320,000 on 25 June. This represents about 23% of the number of children who usually attend in term time.
• Schools and colleges began welcoming back year 10 and 12 students on 15 June for some face-to-face support to help them prepare for a return to the classroom from September.
• We estimate 75% of schools (excluding further education institutions) usually open to students in year 10 and 12 were open to at least one of these year groups on 2 July, up slightly from 74% on 25 June. Approximately 14% of year 10 students and 12% of year 12 students were in attendance on 2 July.

All education settings were closed except for vulnerable children and the children of key workers due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak from Friday 20 March 2020.

From 1 June, the government asked schools to welcome back children in nursery, reception and years 1 and 6, alongside children of critical workers and vulnerable children. From 15 June, secondary schools, sixth form and further education colleges were asked to begin providing face-to-face support to students in year 10 and 12 to supplement their learning from home, alongside full time provision for students from priority groups.

The data on Explore education statistics shows attendance in education settings since Monday 23 March and in early years settings since Thursday 16 April. The summary explains the responses for a set time frame.

The data is collected from a daily education settings survey and a weekly local authority early years survey.

The pre-release access list shows post holders with access for 24 hours before release.

Previously published data and summaries are available at Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.