Pupils persistently absent compared with claimant count per 1,000 residents
Pupils persistently absent, 2024 (Department for Education — Explore Education Statistics) vs. claimant count per 1,000 residents, July 2026 (Office for National Statistics, via Nomis). 132 areas, Pearson r = +0.37.
This is a pattern across areas, not a cause. It says nothing about any individual case.
| Area | Pupils persistently absent | Claimant count per 1,000 residents |
|---|---|---|
| Barking and Dagenham | 17.9 | 48.6 |
| Barnet | 15.6 | 32.3 |
| Barnsley | 18.6 | 20.1 |
| Bath and North East Somerset | 16.8 | 12.2 |
| Bedford | 18.1 | 27.2 |
| Bexley | 15.7 | 21.9 |
| Birmingham | 21.0 | 65.7 |
| Blackburn with Darwen | 19.1 | 35.3 |
| Blackpool | 22.0 | 35.6 |
| Bolton | 18.3 | 32.1 |
| Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 16.6 | 21.1 |
| Bracknell Forest | 14.1 | 17.5 |
| Bradford | 23.1 | 43.5 |
| Brent | 17.0 | 49.9 |
| Brighton and Hove | 21.2 | 30.2 |
| Bristol, City of | 22.2 | 25.4 |
| Bromley | 15.2 | 21.8 |
| Buckinghamshire | 17.8 | 18.3 |
| Bury | 18.7 | 26.4 |
| Calderdale | 17.0 | 26.2 |
| Camden | 23.2 | 34.0 |
| Central Bedfordshire | 16.3 | 15.9 |
| Cheshire East | 14.8 | 14.1 |
| Cheshire West and Chester | 17.7 | 15.7 |
| City of London | 6.0 | 9.6 |
| Cornwall | 18.8 | 17.5 |
| County Durham | 19.4 | 19.3 |
| Coventry | 20.2 | 38.6 |
| Croydon | 18.7 | 41.1 |
| Cumberland | 16.3 | 14.7 |
| Darlington | 20.1 | 21.9 |
| Derby | 19.5 | 31.5 |
| Doncaster | 18.3 | 25.9 |
| Dorset | 19.5 | 12.6 |
| Dudley | 20.1 | 27.8 |
| Ealing | 18.2 | 44.8 |
| East Riding of Yorkshire | 16.9 | 13.1 |
| Enfield | 19.0 | 45.9 |
| Gateshead | 17.1 | 24.9 |
| Greenwich | 17.1 | 40.1 |
| Hackney | 17.8 | 51.2 |
| Halton | 21.7 | 26.4 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 19.1 | 35.2 |
| Haringey | 18.9 | 52.5 |
| Harrow | 16.0 | 31.1 |
| Hartlepool | 19.7 | 27.1 |
| Havering | 15.2 | 27.6 |
| Herefordshire, County of | 15.9 | 14.9 |
| Hillingdon | 19.2 | 33.1 |
| Hounslow | 17.8 | 34.2 |
| Isle of Wight | 22.2 | 20.6 |
| Isles of Scilly | 17.8 | 8.7 |
| Islington | 22.4 | 40.7 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 20.8 | 24.5 |
| Kingston upon Hull, City of | 19.9 | 33.3 |
| Kingston upon Thames | 15.0 | 21.4 |
| Kirklees | 17.6 | 29.2 |
| Knowsley | 24.4 | 26.5 |
| Lambeth | 18.7 | 47.9 |
| Leeds | 19.0 | 30.3 |
| Leicester | 19.4 | 36.6 |
| Lewisham | 16.6 | 48.9 |
| Liverpool | 20.9 | 37.4 |
| Luton | 17.7 | 43.3 |
| Manchester | 18.8 | 42.9 |
| Medway | 18.8 | 26.2 |
| Merton | 14.9 | 30.4 |
| Middlesbrough | 22.1 | 33.5 |
| Milton Keynes | 17.7 | 25.6 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 20.5 | 27.4 |
| Newham | 19.6 | 54.1 |
| North East Lincolnshire | 19.8 | 25.4 |
| North Lincolnshire | 18.0 | 20.8 |
| North Northamptonshire | 17.8 | 20.4 |
| North Somerset | 17.9 | 14.2 |
| North Tyneside | 16.5 | 20.3 |
| North Yorkshire | 17.3 | 11.6 |
| Northumberland | 17.8 | 16.0 |
| Nottingham | 20.6 | 42.5 |
| Oldham | 18.9 | 40.8 |
| Peterborough | 18.9 | 33.5 |
| Plymouth | 20.8 | 22.4 |
| Portsmouth | 19.7 | 30.3 |
| Reading | 19.0 | 29.3 |
| Redbridge | 17.7 | 39.3 |
| Redcar and Cleveland | 19.5 | 21.9 |
| Richmond upon Thames | 12.4 | 16.6 |
| Rochdale | 20.0 | 36.3 |
| Rotherham | 20.1 | 22.1 |
| Rutland | 14.2 | 10.7 |
| Salford | 20.6 | 33.8 |
| Sandwell | 19.7 | 42.3 |
| Sefton | 21.0 | 21.9 |
| Sheffield | 21.3 | 28.8 |
| Shropshire | 17.5 | 14.0 |
| Slough | 18.6 | 39.3 |
| Solihull | 18.3 | 21.4 |
| Somerset | 18.9 | 14.8 |
| South Gloucestershire | 17.3 | 12.8 |
| South Tyneside | 20.4 | 28.8 |
| Southampton | 21.4 | 28.8 |
| Southend-on-Sea | 17.7 | 25.8 |
| Southwark | 17.2 | 42.7 |
| St. Helens | 18.5 | 22.8 |
| Stockport | 16.6 | 18.0 |
| Stockton-on-Tees | 19.3 | 23.7 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 19.7 | 32.9 |
| Sunderland | 20.9 | 23.7 |
| Sutton | 14.7 | 22.1 |
| Swindon | 17.2 | 21.4 |
| Tameside | 18.4 | 30.1 |
| Telford and Wrekin | 16.7 | 24.0 |
| Thurrock | 16.6 | 27.6 |
| Torbay | 19.1 | 19.4 |
| Tower Hamlets | 18.3 | 51.6 |
| Trafford | 12.6 | 18.4 |
| Wakefield | 19.5 | 23.5 |
| Walsall | 21.6 | 36.3 |
| Waltham Forest | 18.5 | 44.7 |
| Wandsworth | 17.0 | 29.4 |
| Warrington | 14.4 | 17.1 |
| West Berkshire | 16.5 | 14.5 |
| West Northamptonshire | 16.5 | 21.1 |
| Westminster | 22.1 | 30.3 |
| Westmorland and Furness | 15.6 | 10.4 |
| Wigan | 17.5 | 22.0 |
| Wiltshire | 16.0 | 13.3 |
| Windsor and Maidenhead | 17.9 | 15.8 |
| Wirral | 20.4 | 20.8 |
| Wokingham | 14.3 | 12.1 |
| Wolverhampton | 17.7 | 41.8 |
| York | 17.5 | 12.1 |