Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what is the total number of school days lost by pupils due to the incidence of infectious disease in (a) primary (b) secondary schools in England in the school years 2024/25 and 2025/26 and what proportion of all pupil school days this represents.

The department does not collect data on absence due specifically to infectious disease.

The closest available measure is absence due to illness. In 2024/25, illness accounted for 2.83% of all possible sessions in state-funded primary schools and 3.61% in state-funded secondary schools. These figures are based on school census data, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/71a4148c-f739-4adc-9a80-08dee27f7d76.

For 2025/26 to date, illness absence has accounted for 2.81% of possible sessions in primary schools and 3.63% in secondary schools. Data for 2025/26 is based on daily attendance data and may be subject to change as registers update. Details are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/cfdaf89b-050d-4c76-179f-08dee28a6f1d.