Key points

Attendance

• The attendance rate in 2024/25 was 91.0%. This is an increase from 90.3% in 2023/24 but lower than the pre-COVID-19 (2018/19) level of 93.0%.
• Authorised absences in 2024/25 stood at 5.3%, a decrease compared to 5.9% in 2023/24 but higher than the pre-COVID-19 (2018/19) level of 4.4%.
• Unauthorised absences in 2024/25 was 3.7%, a slight decrease compared to 3.8% in 2023/24 but higher than the pre-COVID-19 (2018/19) level of 2.6%.
• Although the overall unauthorised absence rate has decreased since 2023/24, the rate of unauthorised holidays has increased slightly, from 1.0% of all openings in 2023/24 to 1.1% in 2024/25, the highest since the start of the time series in 2009/10.
• Sickness (without education provision) was the biggest reason for absence, although the rate decreased from the previous year, from 4.8% of all possible openings in 2023/24 to 4.4% in 2024/25.
• Attendance varied by local authority with highest attendance rates in East Renfrewshire (93.6%) and lowest in East Ayrshire (89.1%). All local authorities except Shetland Islands increased their attendance rate from 2023/24 to 2024/25.
• The attendance rate was lower for pupils with an Additional Support Need (ASN; 88.2%) compared to pupils without an ASN (92.9%), a gap of 4.7 percentage points. This is higher than the gap of 4.6 percentage points in 2023/24.
• Attendance decreased with increased deprivation in 2024/25; the attendance rate for pupils in the 20% least deprived areas was 94.1% compared to 87.6% for pupils in the 20% most deprived areas, a gap of 6.5 percentage points. This is lower than the gap of 6.7 percentage points in 2023/24.
• The rate of persistent absence (Percentage of pupils who were absent 10% or more of all half day sessions) was 28.5% in 2024/25, a decrease compared to 31.4% in 2023/24 but higher than the pre-COVID-19 (2018/19) level of 21.8%.

Exclusions

• Cases of exclusion decreased from 11,673 in 2022/23 to 10,647 in 2024/25. This is consistent with the overall downward trend since 2006/07.
• The rate of exclusions per 1,000 pupils decreased from 16.6 in 2022/23 to 15.2 in 2024/25. This is consistent with the overall downward trend since 2006/07.
• No pupils were removed from the register in 2024/25, compared with one pupil in 2022/23. This is the first time there has been no pupils removed from the register since records began in 2002/03.
• The rate of exclusions per 1,000 pupils for pupils with an ASN was 28.9 in 2024/25, almost five times the rate for pupils without an ASN (5.8), a gap of 23.1. This is lower than the gap of 27.5 in 2022/23.
• The rate of exclusions per 1,000 pupils for pupils in the 20% least deprived areas was 6.2 compared to 23.9 for pupils in the 20% most deprived areas, a gap of 17.7. This is lower than the gap of 18.1 in 2023/24.