Inequalities in absences by mental health status

Education plays an important role in shaping people’s health by influencing factors such as income and employment. In turn, these provide the resources people need to maintain good health, such as access to nutritious food and safe housing. It can also support better health literacy, making it easier for people to understand health information and allow more informed health choices as a result.

Schools can also affect health more directly through provision of physical activities, breakfast clubs and school meals, social opportunities and health interventions such as vaccination programmes. Absences from school can reduce academic performance and reduce exposure to health promoting activities. Reasons for absence, such as long-term illness or stressful home environments, can also affect children’s ability to perform well in school.

This chart shows the percentage of children in England who missed more than 15 days of school (which equates to being absent one day every 2.5 weeks), grouped by suspected mental health status, derived from a self-completed children survey, and age in 2021, 2022 and 2023. 

• At primary school level, 7.6% of 8 to 10-year-olds (approximately 150,000 children) with a suspected mental health disorder were absent from school for more than 15 days in 2023. This compared with 1.2% of children who had no suspected mental health disorders.
• At secondary school level, 12.5% of 11 to 16-year-olds (approximately 500,000 children) with a suspected mental health disorder were absent from school for more than 15 days in 2023. This compared with 1.7% of pupils with no suspected mental health disorders.
• There has been a slower decrease in absenteeism in children with mental health disorders than in children without mental health disorders:
  • In 2021, 9.3% of children without a suspected mental health disorder were absent, dropping to 1.6% by 2023 – a nearly six-fold decrease.
  • In contrast, 18.1% of children with a suspected mental health disorder were absent in 2021, dropping to 11.2% in 2023 – a reduction of less than half.
  • This pattern may be driven by more children than normal missing school due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.

The higher levels of absences in 2021 and 2022 are partly the result of the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in school closures and COVID-19 infections during that period. Although absence rates have continued to drop, they have not yet reached pre-pandemic levels. Additionally, the fall in the rate of absences has been smaller for pupils on free school meals and children with special educational needs, who were also impacted more than other pupils by the increase of absences during the pandemic, increasing inequalities.