Asked by: Lord Kilclooney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Common Travel Area, what is the estimated number of (1) UK citizens in the Republic of Ireland, and (2) Irish citizens in Great Britain.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon. Member's Parliamentary Question of 25 January is attached.
The Rt Hon the Lord of Kilclooney
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
1 February 2023
Dear Lord Kilclooney,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking further to the Common Travel Area, what is the estimated number of (1) UK citizens in the Republic of Ireland, and (2) Irish citizens in Great Britain (HL5084).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) does not produce estimates of the number of UK citizens living in Ireland. That country’s Central Statistics Office estimated that 103,113 UK citizens were living in Ireland in April 2016 (1). Population by nationality estimates based on the Annual Population Survey (APS) show that there were an estimated 330,000 Irish nationals resident in Great Britain in June 2021 (2).
The 2021 Census for England and Wales and the corresponding Census for Scotland, which due to the Covid pandemic was delayed until 2022, asked respondents about passports held which can be used as some proxy for citizenship. The relevant Census figures have not yet been published, though the first release of data on this topic for England and Wales showed that an estimated 364,726 residents of these countries held an Irish passport but not a UK passport (3).
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
1 https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cpnin/cpnin/uk/
2 Table 2.4, https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/datasets/populationoftheunitedkingdombycountryofbirthandnationality
Note that data from this source below UK, EU and non-EU level should be treated with caution and not be compared with previous years due to the introduction of a new weighting methodology to reflect the change in survey operations during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. These statistics were discontinued in October 2022
3 Table TS005, https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/sources/census_2021_ts
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a requirement that schools assign an attendance code to register pupils not attending for reasons relating to the long-term effects of coronavirus.
Answered by Nick Gibb
COVID-19 had a significant effect on pupils' wellbeing, education and attendance, and the Government recognises that the health of some students continues to be affected.
The national attendance and absence codes enable schools to record and monitor attendance and absence in a consistent way and are used to collect statistics through the school census system.
It has been a longstanding practice that where a pupil is absent due to illness, schools will use code I (illness) to record the absence. Illness is not broken down to include specific types of illness, and the Government has no plans to change this for any single condition.
The Department continues to monitor the effect of COVID-19 through a range of channels, including the Office for National Statistics COVID-19 Infection Survey, and support the recovery of children and young people from the disruption of COVID-19 through a multi-year programme with almost £5 billion made available for education recovery.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the total percentage absentee rate of (1) head teachers, (2) teachers, and (3) teaching assistants, since the beginning of the academic year.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The requested data is not yet available. The daily Education Setting survey asks schools and colleges to report data such as on-site attendance and COVID-19 absence.
The most recent published data for staff absences at national level from the daily education settings survey is as at 3 February 2022 and can be found in: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
The department estimates that 9.1% of teachers and school leaders, and 9.0% of teaching assistants and other staff were absent from open schools on 3 February 2022.
Data relating to teacher and teaching assistant absence over time is collected from state funded schools in England from the November school workforce census. Each census collects data for absence from the previous academic year. The November 2021 census, covering the 2020-21 academic year will be published in summer 2022 at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of days missed of school by (a) students and (b) teachers in the first term of the 2021-22 academic year.
Answered by Robin Walker
The requested data is not yet available.
Data relating to the number of school days missed by pupils due to absence in the autumn term of the 2021-22 academic year is currently being collected in the termly school census. It will be published in May 2022 and will be available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term.
The daily education settings survey asks schools and colleges to report data such as on-site attendance and absence due to COVID-19.
The most recent published data for staff and pupil absences at national level is for 20 January 2022 and can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
Data relating to teacher sickness absence is collected from state-funded schools in England from the November school workforce census. Each census collects data for absence from the previous academic year. The November 2021 census, covering the 2020-21 academic year, will be published in summer 2022 and will be available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Centre for Social Justice’s report entitled Lost but not forgotten: the reality of severe absence in schools post-lockdown published in January 2022, what estimate he has made of the number of children who are absent from schools (a) by education authority and (b) who are eligible for schooling on the Isle of Wight as of 31 January 2022.
Answered by Robin Walker
Overall absence data is collected in the termly school census collection and figures for January 2022 are not yet available at this time. Full year figures for the 2020/21 academic year will be available from 24 March 2022, including by amount of absence.
The department currently publishes on-site attendance and COVID-19-related absence data at a national level on a fortnightly basis and at a local authority level on a half-termly basis. Data covering 31 January 2022 will be published routinely, on this basis.
The latest published local authority level data ends in Week 50 2021. During the 2021 autumn term, at a national level, on average 89.8% of pupils were in attendance on-site and 2.3% were absent for COVID-19-related reasons. Over the same period, on the Isle of Wight, 88.5% of pupils were in attendance on-site and 2.9% were absent for COVID-19-related reasons.
The full most recent national, regional and local authority data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
National level pupil data can be found in Table 1B of the underlying data files, whilst local authority data can be found in Table 1C.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the level of teacher absence (a) for any reason and (b) for reasons related to covid-19 by (i) region, (ii) upper tier local authority, (iii) lower tier local authority and (iv) parliamentary constituency in each of the last 100 weeks for which figures are available.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department has published data on teacher absence for any reason and for reasons related to COVID-19 since the start of the academic year. This can be found on Explore Education Statistics. The lowest geographical level the data is split to is local authority level. We do not publish data at parliamentary constituency level.
The most recent published data at national level is 6 January 2022. For regional and local authority level data, the latest published data is 16 December 2021. The most recent national, regional and local authority data can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-23-march-2020-to-6-january-2022.
The department also collects data on teacher absences in the annual school workforce census. To reduce burden on schools and local authorities during the COVID-19 outbreak, data on absences was not collected in 2020. Therefore, the latest data collected through the census is from 2019 and can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england/2019. Absence data was collected in the November 2021 school workforce census and will be published in the next national statistic release later this year.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish data on the level of absence by children from schools for (a) any reason, (b) any reason of illness, including reasons related to covid-19 and (c) reasons related to covid-19 by (i) region, (ii) upper tier local authority, (iii) lower tier local authority and (iv) parliamentary constituency in each of the last 100 weeks for which figures are available.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department publishes a fortnightly COVID-19 attendance publication based on the educational settings status form. This data is intended to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on the number of pupils attending school. In this collection we do not collect the total number of students absent from school due to any reason of illness.
Data on pupil absence due to COVID-19 since the start of the 2021/22 academic year can be found on Explore Education Statistics. This data is published at local authority level. We do not publish data at parliamentary constituency level.
The most recent published data at national level is 6 January. For regional and local authority level data, the latest published data is 16 December. The most recent national, regional and local authority data can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-23-march-2020-to-6-january-2022.
We also publish more detailed termly data on pupil absence as part of the school census (including absence rates where pupils are ill, including COVID-19). The latest publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-2020-and-spring-2021.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) teachers and (b) other school staff have been absent from working in schools in each month since January 2020.
Answered by Robin Walker
The daily education setting (EdSet) survey asks schools and colleges to report data such as on-site attendance and COVID-19 absence.
From 12 October 2020, the survey of educational settings asked schools and colleges for information on the absence of teachers and school leaders, and teaching assistants and other staff, who were unable to work on-site. This data is not available prior to 12 October 2020.
Data is available from 12 October 2020 to 21 October 2021, see table 1d (excluding holidays) and table 1a (schools not on holiday during half term and Easter) in https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/2021-week-44.
Information on the number and rates of teacher sickness absence are published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication at the following link: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
To reduce burdens on schools during the COVID-19 outbreak, the return of absence data for the 2019/20 academic year was not required in the ongoing 2020 School Workforce Census. Schools will not be asked to submit 2020 census absence data retrospectively in future censuses.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the average length of time that individual students in each year group have been absent in circumstances resulting from the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The COVID-19 attendance rate for pupils eligible for free school meals, from 8 March 2021 to 7 June 2021, is published on Explore Education Statistics (Table 1B) which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
Year group is not collected as part of the daily data collected from educational institutions and rates for this groups are not available.
Based on the Autumn Census, 60% of pupils had some period where they did not attend in circumstances relating to the COVID-19 outbreak. Further details on this can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term.
The Department understands that the COVID-19 outbreak has caused particular challenges for different groups of children and has acted swiftly to minimise its impact and ensured that schools remained open for vulnerable children throughout.
The Department has also continued to work closely with local authorities to support them to re-engage absent pupils and share good practice. The £3 billion investment in education recovery includes over £900 million that schools can use to support the children who have been most impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. The Government's Supporting Families programme continues to work with families where absence is a specific concern.
Data for autumn 2020 on pupil absence and not attending in circumstances relating to COVID-19 outbreak is published at https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term. This includes data broken down by free school meals, special educational needs and ethnicity. Attendance data is not published by disability.
National data on the attendance of pupils during the COVID-19 outbreak is published weekly at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
There are breakdowns of attendance rate by pupils eligible for free school meals and those with special educational needs (educational health care plan). The coverage is from 8 March 2021 to 7 June 2021.
The COVID-19 attendance rate at local authority and regional levels is published on Explore Education Statistics (Table 1C) which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
The Department collects the number of sessions recorded as not attending in circumstances related to the COVID-19 outbreak via the school census. This is collected as a total for each pupil across each term. It is possible to calculate the average number of sessions missed in a term but it is not possible to calculate the average length of each spell of non-attendance. 7% of sessions in Autumn Term 2020 were recorded as not attending due to COVID-19 circumstances. This represents 5 days (one week) per pupil. Data on pupil absence in schools in England, autumn term 2020/21 is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the pupil absence rate is by local authority.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The COVID-19 attendance rate for pupils eligible for free school meals, from 8 March 2021 to 7 June 2021, is published on Explore Education Statistics (Table 1B) which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
Year group is not collected as part of the daily data collected from educational institutions and rates for this groups are not available.
Based on the Autumn Census, 60% of pupils had some period where they did not attend in circumstances relating to the COVID-19 outbreak. Further details on this can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term.
The Department understands that the COVID-19 outbreak has caused particular challenges for different groups of children and has acted swiftly to minimise its impact and ensured that schools remained open for vulnerable children throughout.
The Department has also continued to work closely with local authorities to support them to re-engage absent pupils and share good practice. The £3 billion investment in education recovery includes over £900 million that schools can use to support the children who have been most impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. The Government's Supporting Families programme continues to work with families where absence is a specific concern.
Data for autumn 2020 on pupil absence and not attending in circumstances relating to COVID-19 outbreak is published at https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term. This includes data broken down by free school meals, special educational needs and ethnicity. Attendance data is not published by disability.
National data on the attendance of pupils during the COVID-19 outbreak is published weekly at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
There are breakdowns of attendance rate by pupils eligible for free school meals and those with special educational needs (educational health care plan). The coverage is from 8 March 2021 to 7 June 2021.
The COVID-19 attendance rate at local authority and regional levels is published on Explore Education Statistics (Table 1C) which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
The Department collects the number of sessions recorded as not attending in circumstances related to the COVID-19 outbreak via the school census. This is collected as a total for each pupil across each term. It is possible to calculate the average number of sessions missed in a term but it is not possible to calculate the average length of each spell of non-attendance. 7% of sessions in Autumn Term 2020 were recorded as not attending due to COVID-19 circumstances. This represents 5 days (one week) per pupil. Data on pupil absence in schools in England, autumn term 2020/21 is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term.