Attendance: what Ofsted is looking for

Ofsted will consider your attendance data when making specific judgements. Understand what evidence inspectors will want to look at, and what they want to see in 'outstanding' and 'good' schools.

Last reviewed on 8 August 2023
School types: AllSchool phases: AllRef: 4699
Contents
  1. What evidence will be used
  2. Behaviour and attitudes
  3. Leadership and management
  4. Sixth form provision
  5. PRU and alternative provision

This article is based on the School Inspection Handbook.

There's no separate grade for attendance

You won't receive a separate one for attendance in your Ofsted inspection report.

However, inspectors will take attendance into account when grading the following areas:

  • Behaviour and attitudes
  • Leadership and management

If applicable to your setting, inspectors will also take attendance into account when grading your:

  • Sixth form provision 
  • Pupil referral unit (PRU) or other alternative provision 

See the sections below for more details on these judgements.

What evidence will be used

Provide attendance analysis data on day one

By 8am on the first day of inspection, you must give inspectors up-to-date attendance analysis for all groups of pupils.

Get a full list of the information you need to provide in our pre-inspection checklist.

What inspectors will look at

Inspectors will analyse absence and persistent absence rates for all your pupils, comparing different groups with national averages for all pupils.

The extent