School Attendance in London
Patterns, inequalities, and the role of transport costs
Introduction
School attendance has become a central concern for policymakers, schools, and communities in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic. While recent national statistics suggest some short-term improvement, absence rates remain high by historical standards, and persistent absence continues to affect a substantial proportion of pupils.
In London, these challenges are particularly pronounced. Attendance patterns reflect a complex mix of health, social, and economic pressures, and vary significantly by age and socio-economic background. This briefing brings together recent attendance data for London with wider evidence on the drivers of absence, and explores the extent to which transport costs may play a role as one contributing factor.
The analysis draws primarily on administrative datasets published by the Department for Education (DfE), complemented by national transport data from the Department for Transport (DfT). While these sources allow for a detailed descriptive picture, important limitations remain, particularly around causal inference and data coverage. The focus of this briefing is therefore on patterns, trends, and plausible mechanisms, rather than definitive estimates of policy impact.
Attendance levels and recent trends
Using term-level local authority attendance data aggregated across recent academic years, average absence rates in London are around 9.4% overall. Absence is substantially lower in primary schools (6.4%) and markedly higher in secondary schools (8.8%), reflecting patterns seen nationally.
Looking across the last three academic years, absence rates in London appear to have been gradually declining since 2022/23. This downward trend is visible for both disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils and suggests a slow recovery from pandemic-related disruption. However, improvements have been incremental rather than dramatic, and absence remains well above pre-pandemic norms.
National Department for Education statistics provide important context. Recent figures indicate overall absence rates of around
6–7% in early 2026, alongside
persistent absence affecting around 19% of pupils so far in the 2025/26 academic year. Although these national figures are not directly comparable to the term-averaged London estimates presented here, they suggest that short-term improvements have not yet translated into a resolution of deeper attendance challenges.
Inequalities in attendance
One of the most striking features of attendance in London is the scale of inequality by socio-economic disadvantage. Pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) have an average absence rate of 11.0%, compared with 7.8% for non-FSM pupils, a gap of 3.2 percentage points. This difference is highly statistically significant and indicates a persistent and substantial disparity in attendance.
These inequalities are visible across school phases but are particularly pronounced in secondary education, where absence rates are highest overall. While the existence of an FSM attendance gap is well established, its size in recent London data underlines the continuing challenge of improving attendance for disadvantaged pupils, even as overall absence rates show signs of improvement.
Drivers of absence
A substantial body of evidence points to a set of overlapping factors that drive pupil absence. Illness remains the most frequently recorded reason for absence, accounting for a significant share of missed sessions nationally. Alongside this, mental health challenges-including anxiety, depression, and school-related stress-have become increasingly prominent and are strongly associated with persistent absence.
School experiences also play an important role. Disengagement from learning, a lack of belonging, feeling unsafe in the classroom, or negative relationships with peers or teachers can all contribute to non-attendance. Bullying, both in-person and online, can make school environments feel unsafe and lead pupils to avoid attending altogether.
Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) are overrepresented in absence figures, often reflecting unmet or inadequately supported needs. Family and external factors, including term-time holidays, caring responsibilities, and wider socio-economic pressures such as poverty, further shape attendance patterns. These drivers rarely operate in isolation and tend to compound one another, particularly for disadvantaged pupils.
Within this wider set of factors, the cost and accessibility of transport has been identified in previous research as a potential barrier to attendance, particularly for older pupils and those from lower-income households. This raises the question of whether changes in transport affordability can meaningfully influence attendance outcomes.
The role of transport costs: exploratory evidence
To explore whether transport costs are associated with changes in attendance, an exploratory analysis examined attendance patterns before, during, and after the introduction of the £2 bus fare cap in England (2023 and 2024). The analysis combined administrative attendance data from the Department for Education with national transport data from the Department for Transport.
Given the widespread coverage of the policy and limitations in available data, the analysis focused on changes within the same areas over time, rather than direct comparisons between different parts of the country. This approach does not allow firm conclusions about cause and effect, and the findings should be interpreted as descriptive and indicative rather than definitive.
The analysis suggests a small improvement in attendance during the period when the bus fare cap was in place. However, this improvement did not continue once the policy ended, with attendance levels rising again in the following period. In other words, while lower transport costs may have helped some pupils attend school more regularly in the short term, there is no clear evidence that this led to a lasting improvement in attendance.
This pattern is consistent with wider research showing that transport affordability can ease immediate barriers to attendance, but is unlikely on its own to address the deeper drivers of persistent absence.
Implications for policy
Taken together, the findings in this briefing point to the limits of single-policy interventions in addressing complex attendance challenges. Attendance outcomes are shaped by a combination of health, social, educational, and economic factors, many of which interact and reinforce one another.
Policies aimed at reducing the cost of travel to school may play a useful supporting role, particularly during periods of acute cost pressure. However, lasting improvements in attendance are likely to require coordinated action across transport, education, health, and social support, with particular attention to secondary schools, disadvantaged pupils, and those with additional needs.
In this context, transport affordability should be seen as one component of a broader strategy, rather than a standalone solution. Addressing the underlying drivers of absence-mental health, SEND provision, school engagement, and family circumstances-remains essential if attendance gaps in London are to narrow in a sustained way.
Notes on data and interpretation
This analysis is descriptive rather than causal. It draws on term-level local authority attendance data published by the Department for Education and national transport data from the Department for Transport. Due to data coverage and structural limitations, national-level geographic mapping and causal policy evaluation were not feasible. The focus is therefore on trends, inequalities, and exploratory evidence to inform policy discussion rather than definitive impact estimates.
