Derbyshire is home to many high-performing secondary schools, but as it turns out, GCSE results are not the only metric by which many of them excel.
The Government has recently released its latest absence and attendance figures, covering the full 2023/24 school year. Despite showing a small improvement on the year before, England’s overall absence rate - the percentage of half-days missed for all pupils - still lingers well above pre-pandemic figures. One in five pupils were also labelled ‘persistently absent’, meaning they missed at least 10% of these half-day sessions.
Another new Department for Education report has highlighted just how much this could be interrupting their education. It 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, compared to those who only attended 90 to 95% of the time. This means that missing just 10 days of school reduced the likelihood of getting a strong pass by around 50%.
Included with the Government’s attendance figures was the absence data for each state-funded secondary school in England. We’ve taken a closer look at how those in the Derby City and Derbyshire County council areas did - excluding private and special schools - when it came to attendance. All-through schools have been included, but it is worth noting that their data may also include primary pupils.
Here were the 11 schools from across the county with the lowest absence rates:
1. Littleover Community School
This is a local authority-maintained secondary school and sixth form in Littleover, Derby, and was also the city’s highest performer when it comes to GCSE-based Progress 8 scores in the last academic year. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an absence rate of just 5.97%. | Google
2. Landau Forte College
Another high performing school, Landau Forte is a secondary academy and sixth form in Derby. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an absence rate of 6.09%. | Google
3. The Ecclesbourne School
This is a secondary academy and sixth form in the village of Duffield, north of Derby, again with an ‘above average’ Progress 8 score. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an absence rate of 6.42%. | Google
4. Outwood Academy Newbold
This is a secondary academy and sixth form in Newbold, Chesterfield, yet another ‘above average’ performer. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an absence rate of 6.59%. | Google