Birmingham School Named Among Top 10 Worst for Attendance in England
Newly released Department for Education (DfE) figures have identified the educational institutions with the highest rates of unauthorised absences across the country. A Birmingham school has been ranked among the ten worst performers nationally for attendance, highlighting significant issues with truancy.
Waverley Studio College's Troubling Attendance Record
Waverley Studio College, located on Belchers Lane in Bordesley Greens, Birmingham, secured the tenth position on the national list. The school, which is classified by Ofsted as an 'other secondary school', caters to students aged 14 to 19 and focuses on preparing them for careers in health, creative technology, and enterprise.
According to the DfE data, Waverley Studio College recorded an unauthorised absence rate of 11.6% during the 2024/25 academic year. This means that pupils missed the equivalent of more than one in ten school sessions without authorisation. Only nine other schools in England had worse rates than this, placing it in a concerning spotlight for local education authorities.
National and Regional Context of Truancy Rates
At the top of the national list was Fir Vale Academy in Sheffield, which reported the highest unauthorised absence rate at 17.1%. Within the West Midlands region, Shire Oak Academy in Walsall followed closely behind Waverley Studio College in terms of the proportion of students skipping classes.
Despite these high figures at individual schools, the overall national trend shows some improvement. Unauthorised absences in state-funded secondary schools in England decreased for the second consecutive year. In the 2024/25 academic year, pupils missed approximately 8.4% of school sessions due to unauthorised absences, down from 8.9% in 2023/24 and 9.0% in the two previous years.
Persistent Challenges Post-Pandemic
However, this rate remains significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, only 5.5% of sessions were lost to unauthorised absences, indicating that truancy issues have not fully subsided despite recent declines. The data underscores that while overall numbers are improving, certain schools like Waverley Studio College continue to struggle with attendance, pointing to deeper systemic or local challenges that need addressing.
The variation in truancy rates across different institutions suggests that factors such as school policies, community engagement, and student support systems play crucial roles in attendance outcomes. Education officials and local councils are likely to scrutinise these findings to develop targeted interventions aimed at boosting attendance and reducing unauthorised absences in affected areas.
