The Data and assessment Team received a communication on the 7 June 2021 informing schools that the Schools Pre-Inspection Data & Insight Team have updated the inspection data summary report (IDSR) with absence data from autumn term 2020, based on the DfE published data. The absence data used in the IDSR is based on the DfE census collection and has been provided as a new section within the IDSR. This is different to the daily attendance collection which schools have submitted throughout the pandemic, which will not be used in the IDSR.
This data relates to absences during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. As such, users should not directly compare 2020 autumn absence to historic absence rates. There may be a number of reasons for changes in absence rates. Inspectors will not use the 2020 autumn absence data by itself to draw conclusions but may use it to prompt questions regarding how well attended a school was during this period. Inspectors may also use previous years' data to provide context to the latest data, particularly where a school has previously had high or low absence rates in relation to other schools.
It is important to note that:
If a pupil tested positive for COVID-19 then this absence should have been treated as an illness and included within the data.
However other COVID-19 related absence, such as pupils being sent home to isolate, did not count as absences within the data.
Further detail on how absence rates have been calculated can be found in the DfE published methodology.
Please ensure you download the latest version of your IDSR, which will have 7 June 2021 release date.
Should you have any IDSR or Ofsted IDSR service queries, please contact either:
Schools team - School.Performance.Data@ofsted.gov.uk
16 to 19 team - FEandSkillsData@ofsted.gov.uk
IDSR guidance
School Reports on Pupil Performance
The DfE have updated their guidance on reporting to parents for pupils at the end of KS1 & KS2 as well as guidance for all year groups.
