Persistent pupil absence — Merton
14.9%, latest 2024/25 (-1.1 percentage points year on year, from 16.0%).
The rate stood at 14.9% in 2024/25. That is 1.1 percentage points lower than a year earlier. The series peaked at 20.2% in 2006/07; the latest figure is 5.3 percentage points below that peak. Its low point was 8.6% in 2017/18; the latest reading is 6.4 percentage points above that.
Show the numbers (18 periods)
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 14.9% |
| 2023/24 | 16.0% |
| 2022/23 | 18.9% |
| 2021/22 | 19.5% |
| 2020/21 | 11.0% |
| 2018/19 | 8.7% |
| 2017/18 | 8.6% |
| 2016/17 | 8.8% |
| 2015/16 | 8.9% |
| 2014/15 | 9.5% |
| 2013/14 | 9.6% |
| 2012/13 | 12.3% |
| 2011/12 | 13.2% |
| 2010/11 | 15.6% |
| 2009/10 | 17.8% |
| 2008/09 | 19.4% |
| 2007/08 | 19.4% |
| 2006/07 | 20.2% |
What these terms mean
- Persistent absence
- A pupil who missed 10% or more of their own possible school sessions across the academic year, for any reason (authorised or unauthorised). Source
- Academic year
- 1 September to 31 August — DfE's own reporting year for school statistics, different from the calendar year.
Before you use these figures
- England only: The Department for Education publishes this figure for state-funded schools in England only. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are not covered here.
- All state-funded school types combined: This figure combines state-funded primary, secondary and special schools. DfE also publishes a per-school-type breakdown, not loaded here.
- Persistent absence, not all absence: "Persistent absentees" are pupils who missed 10% or more of their possible school sessions across the academic year. This is narrower than overall absence, which DfE also publishes separately.
- Open Government Licence: Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Latest figure: 2024 — 2 years old: This dataset is published annually and the publisher hasn't released anything newer. Nothing is missing from this page.
Cite this figure:
Persistent pupil absence — Merton 14.9% for Merton, 2024/25 Caveats: England only; All state-funded school types combined; Persistent absence, not all absence; Open Government Licence; Latest figure: 2024 — 2 years old StatsMapped last checked this figure against the publisher's own data file on 12 Sep 2026. Source: Department for Education — Explore Education Statistics https://statsmapped.com/united-kingdom/local-authority/merton/persistent-pupil-absence
See every dataset published for Merton
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