The 11 top state primary schools in Dewsbury and Batley for attendance - with extremely low absences

While children’s time in primary school might not be punctuated by as many high-stakes exams as their secondary years, attending as often as possible is still vital to their future success.

But the Government’s latest absence and attendance figures, covering the full 2023/24 school year, show that the overall absence rate - the percentage of half-days missed for all pupils - still lingers well above pre-pandemic figures. One in five pupils were also labelled ‘persistently absent’, meaning they missed at least 10% of these half-day sessions.

A recent Department for Education report has demonstrated just how much this matters for a pupil’s outcomes, even in primary school. It found pupils who attended school nearly every day in Year 6 were 1.3 times more likely to meet the Government’s expected standards in reading, writing and maths compared to pupils who only attended 90-95% of the time. This means missing just 10 days of school reduces their chances by around 25%.

We’ve taken a look at overall absence rates for state-funded primary schools - including infant and lower schools - across the Dewsbury and Batley parliamentary constituency. Using this data, we’ve created a league table for parents featuring all of the local schools with absence rates below 6% - an outstanding achievement for any school and its community.

Here were the 11 local primary schools that made the grade: