Item 10 Appendix 1
West Dunbartonshire Council · 26 November 2025
Back to Educational Services Committee — 26 November 2025 and its agenda
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1 School Pupil Attendance Report–Session 2025-26 – All Data Shown Is For Session So Far As At End September Primary Attendance ranges from 89.6% at Renton Primary School up to 96.6% at Knoxland Primary School. In secondary schools the range is from 88.9% at Vale of Leven Academy up to 90.5% at Clydebank High School. Appendix 1
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2 Month to Month Data for Context The average Attendance across all WDC schools for the month of September is 91.3%, down 2.6 percentage points on the August figure. This is better than the position we were in at the same point in time last session when our September Attendance level was 0.2 percentage points lower at 91.1%. The session rolling average Attendance figure (August to end of September) across all WDC schools (that’s the red line on the chart) has decreased by 1.6 percentage points to 92.3% since the end of August. This is the same as the position we were in at the same point in time last session when our session average Attendance level was at 92.3%.
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3 Authorised Absence in Primary ranges from 6% at St Michael's Primary School down to 2% at Knoxland Primary School. In secondary schools the range is from 5.9% at Dumbarton Academy down to 5.1% at Vale of Leven Academy.
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4 Month to Month Data for Context Authorised Absence across all WDC schools for the month of September is 5%, up 1.6 percentage points on the August figure. This is the same as the position we were in at the same point in time last session when our September Authorised Absence level was at 5%. The session rolling average Authorised Absence figure (August to end of September) across all WDC schools (that’s the red line on the chart) has increased by 1 percentage points to 4.4% since the end of August. This is the same as the position we were in at the same point in time last session when our session average Authorised Absence level was at 4.4%.
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5 Unauthorised Absence in Primary ranges from 5.6% at Dalreoch Primary School down to 0.1% at Gartocharn Primary School. In secondary schools the range is from 5.9% at Vale of Leven Academy down to 3.6% at Dumbarton Academy.
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6 Month to Month Data for Context Unauthorised Absence across all WDC schools for the month of September is 3.7%, up 1 percentage points on the August figure. This is better than the position we were in at the same point in time last session when our September Unauthorised Absence level was 0.2 percentage points higher at 3.9%. The session rolling average Unauthorised Absence figure (August to end of September) across all WDC schools (that’s the red line on the chart) has increased by 0.6 percentage points to 3.3% since the end of August. This is the same as the position we were in at the same point in time last session when our session average Unauthorised Absence level was at 3.3%.
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8 October Focus Area: Care Experienced The care experienced cohort shows higher levels of Unauthorised and Authorised Absence than the non-care experienced cohort in all sectors. The care experienced cohort accounts for 3.1% of all possible attendance in primary, for 3.7% in secondary, 11.4% in special and 3.6% across all sectors.
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9 October Focus Area: Care Experienced Young Carers Compared to non Care Experienced Young Carers For Unauthorised Absence, the Care Experienced Young Carer cohort shows much higher levels than the non-Care Experienced Young Carer cohort in the secondary sector. There is no unauthorised absence for the Care Experienced Young Carer cohort in the primary sector. There is no unauthorised absence for the non-Care Experienced Young Carer cohort in special.
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10 For Authorised Absence, the Care Experienced Young Carer cohort shows the same level as the non-Care Experienced Young Carer cohort in the secondary sector. In the primary and special sectors, it is lower. The Care Experienced Young Carer cohort accounts for 0.7% of all possible Young Carer attendance in primary, for 4.7% in secondary, 2.1% in special and 2.6% across all sectors.
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11 October Focus Area: Child Protection Registered The Child Protection Registered cohort shows much higher levels of Unauthorised Absence than the non-Child Protection Registered cohort in the primary and secondary sectors. In special it is lower. The Child Protection Registered cohort shows much higher levels of Authorised Absence than the non-Child Protection Registered cohort in the primary and secondary sectors. In special it is lower.
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12 The Child Protection Registered cohort accounts for 0.8% of all possible attendance in primary, for 0.7% in secondary, 2.0% in special and 0.8% across all sectors.
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13 October Focus Area: Individual Attendance Codes: Focus on Specific Codes: OAT OAT - Other Attendance Out of School (e.g. pupil on a day release to a college). In the primary sector, this has been used by 7 schools. The school with the highest rate being St Martin’s where it accounts for 0.4% of possible attendance. In the secondary sector, it has been used by all schools where the rate ranges from 1.8% at CHS to 4.4% at Dumbarton, of possible attendance. The 2023-24 Local Authority working group on Attendance Coding provided additional guidance on circumstances where this code could be used and these suggestions are provided below to give a bit of context to the use of this code: Pupils on a day release to a College or other learning provider Interviews and visits relating to further and higher education or careers events Debates, sports, musical or drama activities in conjunction with the school Educational excursions, visits, or field trips organised by the school Day and residential visits to outdoor centres Pupils receiving tuition via outreach teaching services Activities in connection with psychological services, learning or behaviour support.
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14 November Focus Area: Comparison of Attendance Levels by Sex The female cohort shows a higher level of Unauthorised Absence than the male cohort in the primary and secondary sectors. The Male cohort is higher in the special sector. The male cohort shows slightly higher levels of Authorised Absence than the female cohort in the primary and secondary sectors. In the special sector the female cohort is much higher.
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15 There is a near 50/50 split between the two cohorts in primary and secondary and across all sectors, but the male cohort is larger in the special sector (the split being 70%/30%).
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16 November Focus Area: Individual Attendance Codes: Focus on Specific Codes: RFS/PTH/PTX RFS - Refusal to Attend In the primary sector, this has been used by 9 schools. The school with the highest rate being Carleith where it accounts for 1.4% of possible attendance. In the secondary sector, it has been used by all schools where the rate ranges from 0.1% at St Peter the Apostle High School up to 0.9% at Vale of Leven Academy, of possible attendance.
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17 PTH - Part Time Timetable (health related) In the primary sector, this has been used by 5 schools. The school with the highest rate being St Peter’s, where it accounts for 0.2% of possible attendance. In the secondary sector, it has been used by 2 schools. The rate is less than 0.1% at CHS & OLSP, of possible attendance. PTX - Part Time TimeTable (exclusion related) In the primary sector, this has not been used. In the secondary sector, it has been used by 1 school, CHS, where its level of use is negligible.
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18 December Focus Area: Additional Support Needs The ASN cohort shows higher levels of both Authorised and Unauthorised Absence than the non-ASN cohort in both primary and secondary sectors. The ASN cohort accounts for 41% of possible attendance in the primary sector, 50% in secondary, 100% in the special sector and 46% across all sectors.
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19 January Focus Area: Attendance of Stage S3 Pupils Looking across all stages, Unauthorised Absence shows a generally increasing trend by stage in the primary sector, P1-P6 then dropping off again in P7, although the changes between stages are pretty small. In secondary the increase is from around 2.1% of all possible attendance in S1 to around 6% in S4. S5 is a little lower at 4.9% and then S6 is highest at 6.2%.
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21 A request was made to see the year stage data also broken down by sex, so that has been provided here.
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22 Looking at S3, the cohort identified for specific focus in January, this year/stage is the one with the 2nd lowest level of attendance at 88.0% (although S4 is only 0.1 percentage points lower at 87.9%, so both are at very similar low levels). Its absence is mostly made up of authorised absence, which accounts for 6.3% of possible attendance (the 2nd highest after S2 at 6.4%), while the unauthorised portion (at 5.7%) is 3rd highest, behind S4 and S6 (6.0% and 6.2%, respectively).
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23 There is a quite a difference between female and male attendance in S3, with Female being at 86.4% and Male at 89.4%. Authorised Absence, for Females in S3 is at 6.6% and for Males is at 6.1%. For unauthorised, Females are at 7%, which is 2.5 percentage points higher than S3 males at 4.5%.
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24 Across the secondary schools, the attendance rate for S3 pupils ranges from 91.9% at Dumbarton Academy down to 85.9% at Vale of Leven Academy. Dumbarton Academy is substantially higher than the other secondary schools in its level of S3 attendance and has lowest levels of Unauthorised and second lowest level of Authorised Absence.
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25 February Focus Area: Percentage of Pupils With Less than 90% Attendance The measurement of pupils with less than 90% attendance is restricted to only those who have also been on the roll for more than 4 weeks. This is to prevent pupils who are new to the school and who have also had a period of sickness soon after joining, falling into this category unfairly.
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26 % Pupils With Less than 90% Attendance in Primary ranges from 29.6% at St Michael's Primary School down to 9.2% at Gartocharn Primary School. In secondary schools the range is from 31.7% at St Peter the Apostle High School down to 24.9% at Our Lady and St Patrick's High School. The average level across all WDC schools is 22.3%. Looking at the primary school data by stage, it is generally increasing from P1 to P7. In secondary it is increasing from S1 to S4 then decreasing to S6. Special sector data is provided for information, but there are very small numbers in this sector and therefore individual pupils with specific issues are likely to be heavily influencing the percentages.
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27 Looking at the primary, secondary and all sectors’ data by SIMD 2020 Quintile, it is generally decreasing from Q1 to Q5, although in primary and across all sectors, Q5 is slightly higher than Q4. Special sector data is provided for information, but there are very small numbers in this sector and therefore individual pupils with specific issues are likely to be heavily influencing the percentages.
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28 February Focus Area: Percentage of Pupils With Less than 80% Attendance The measurement of pupils with less than 80% attendance is restricted to only those who have also been on the roll for more than 4 weeks. This is to prevent pupils who are new to the school and who have also had a period of sickness soon after joining, falling into this category unfairly.
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29 % Pupils With Less than 80% Attendance in Primary ranges from 17.6% at Renton Primary School down to 2.3% at Gartocharn Primary School. In secondary schools the range is from 16.5% at Vale of Leven Academy down to 12.9% at Our Lady and St Patrick's High School. The average level across all WDC schools is 10.5%. Looking at the primary school data by stage, it is around 5% in P1/P2, then between around 6 to 7% for P3, P5 & P7, with P4 at 7.6% and P6 at 8.5%. In secondary it rises from around 9% in S1 to about 20% in S4 then declines to around 13% in S5/S6. Special sector data is provided for information, but there are very small numbers in this sector and therefore individual pupils with specific issues are likely to be heavily influencing the percentages.
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30 Looking at the primary, secondary and all sectors’ data by SIMD 2020 Quintile, it is generally decreasing from Q1 to Q5. Quintile 5 in primary and in all sectors are the exceptions to this, as they have a higher level than Quintile 4. However, again we must be wary of small numbers, in primary this represents only 12 individuals out of 307 total primary pupils in SIMD Quintile 5 and across all sector, 28 out of 585. Special sector data is provided for information, but there are again very small numbers in this sector and therefore individual pupils with specific issues are likely to be heavily influencing the percentages.
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31 March Focus Area: SIMD 2020 Quintiles Comparison For both Unauthorised and Authorised Absence in primary and secondary sectors there appears to be a trend of higher absence for the more deprived quintiles to lower absence for the least deprived quintiles, although Q5 in primary is higher than Q4. There is more variation in the special sector, but this is likely related to small numbers in the various cohorts. Quintiles 1 and 2 account for 71% of all possible attendance, with Quintiles 3, 4 and 5 and unknowns all together accounting for just 29%.
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32 March Focus Area: Free Meal Entitlement (via Deprivation Criteria only) The FSM cohort shows higher levels of both Unauthorised and Authorised Absence than the non-FSM cohort in all sectors. The FSM cohort accounts for around 30% of possible attendance in the primary sector, around 25% in secondary, around 48% in the special sector, and 28% across all sectors.
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33 April Focus Area: English as an Additional Language The EAL cohort shows lower levels of both Unauthorised and Authorised Absence than the non-EAL cohort in the primary and secondary sectors. In the special sector there is no Unauthorised Absence and much lower Authorised absence for this cohort. The EAL cohort accounts for 5% of all possible attendance in primary, 4.6% in secondary, 2.5% in special and 4.7% across all sectors.
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34 May Focus Area: Local Learning Communities Across all school sectors, attendance is highest in the Dumbarton LLC (92.8%) and Vale of Leven LLC is the lowest (91.6%). The Dumbarton LLC has the highest attendance level in the primary sector, but in secondary, Clydebank is slightly higher. Vale of Leven LLC has the lowest attendance in both the primary and secondary sectors. Both Dumbarton and SPTA LLCs jointly have the largest difference between its
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35 primary attendance and its secondary attendance. At both, the difference is 5.2 percentage points. The smallest difference is at OLSP LLC, where there is 4.2 percentage points between the primary attendance percentage and the secondary. N.B. the Special Sector schools are all included in the Dumbarton LLC.
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36 Focus Area: Postcode Prefix A request was made to see data by area, so that has been provided here. G13 Yoker/Knightswood Area: G15 Drumchapel Area: G60 Bowling/Old Kilpatrick Area: G81 Clydebank Area: G82 Dumbarton Area:G83 Vale of Leven Area:G84 Helensburgh Area: (descriptions of areas covered by postcode prefixes are not official and are intended as a guide only)
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37 September Focus Area: % Attendance of P1/S1 Pupils % Attendance of P1 pupils in primary ranges from 100% at St Martin's Primary School down to 91.6% at Renton Primary School. In secondary schools the range for S1 pupils is from 93.8% at Dumbarton Academy down to 93% at Vale of Leven Academy. The average P1 level across all WDC primary schools is 96% and S1 level across all WDC secondary schools is 93.3%.
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38 September Focus Area: Individual Attendance Codes: Focus on Specific Codes: ATF/FLX/VHL/SEP ATF - Adapted Timetable (Flexible Education) In the primary sector, this has been used by 4 schools, the highest being Dalreoch, where it accounts for 0.6% of possible attendance. In the secondary sector, it has been used by all schools where the rate ranges from 0.4% at Clydebank High School up to 1.3% at St Peter the Apostle High School, of possible attendance.
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39 FLX - Flexible Learning In the primary sector, it has been used by 3 schools, the highest being Christie Park Primary, where the rate is 0.2% of possible attendance. In the secondary sector, it has been used by 3 schools. The highest is SPTA, where the rate is 5.1% of possible attendance.
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40 VHL - Virtual Home Learning This has not yet been used in primary schools this session. In the secondary sector, it has been used by 1 school, SPTA, where the rate is 0.1% of possible attendance.
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41 ATF + FLX+ VHL – All Three Flexible Learning Codes Combined In the primary sector, flexible learning codes have been used by 6 schools. The school with the highest rate being Dalreoch, where they account for 0.6% of possible attendance. In the secondary sector, they have been used by all schools. The range is from 0.4% at Clydebank High School up to 6.4% at St Peter the Apostle High School.
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42 SEP – Sickness With Educational Provision In the primary sector, it has been used by 4 schools, the highest being Our Lady of Loretto, where the rate is 0.5% of possible attendance. In the secondary sector, it has been used by 3 schools, VoLA where the rate is around 0.1% of possible attendance, Dumbarton where it is around 0.4% and SPTA where the rate is around 0.8%.
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43 September Focus Area: Pupils with No, or Very Low, Attendance There were 11 primary school pupils with no attendance at all, August to September. There were 5 primary school pupils with 10% or less attendance, August to September.
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44 There were 56 secondary school pupils with no attendance at all, August to Septmber. 32 of these individuals are of age to have already left school. 31 have been marked as leavers, although their leaving date, being during the current session, means they have possible attendance in this session and therefore must still be included in the attendance/absence statistics. One still appears as a current pupil. Of the 24 not yet old enough to leave school, 14 are still current pupils. Eight have moved on to other schools and 2 have left the country. Again, their leaving dates, being during the current session, means they have possible attendance in this session and therefore must still be included in the attendance/absence statistics. There were 26 secondary school pupils with 10% or less attendance, August to September. 8 of these individuals are of age to have already left school. Two of them have been marked as leavers, but their leaving date, being during the current session, means they have possible attendance in this session and therefore must still be included in the attendance/absence statistics. The remaining 18 are not yet old enough to leave school. One has transferred to another school and the other 17 remain on school rolls.
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45 Focus Area: Individual Attendance Codes: List of Codes SEEMiS code Attendance Code Description SEEMiS code Authorised Absence Code Description --- Present ABS Other authorised Absence ATF Adapted Timetable (Flexible Education) DCA Exceptional domestic circumstances (auth) FLD Field Trip LT2 Late (arrives after mid-point) FLX Flexible Learning MED Medically Certified LAT Late (arrives before mid-point) NIM Notifiable illness (medically certified) MIS Missing NIS Notifiable illness (self certified) OAT Other attendance out of school PHL Authorised Parental Holiday PER Medical or Dental Appointment PTH Part Time Timetable (health related) SCH In school but not in class PTX Part Time Timetable (exclusion related) SEP Sickness with educational provision SEL Self Certified STY Study Leave VHL Virtual Home Learning VIS School Visit WRK Work Placement SEEMiS code Unauthorised Absence Code Description DCU Exceptional domestic circumstances (unauth) OUA Other unauthorised absence RFS Refusal to attend TBC To be Confirmed UNA Truancy or Unexplained Absence UPH Parental Holiday If no chart is shown below for a code that appears in this table, then there is negligible attendance data assigned to that code so far this session.
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46 Focus Area: Individual Attendance Codes: Primary Sector: Attendance
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52 Primary Sector: Authorised Absence
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56 Focus Area: Individual Attendance Codes: Primary Sector: Unauthorised Absence
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60 Focus Area: Individual Attendance Codes: Primary Sector: Exclusion
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61 Focus Area: Individual Attendance Codes: Secondary Sector: Attendance
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65 Focus Area: Individual Attendance Codes: Secondary Sector: Authorised Absence
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67 Focus Area: Individual Attendance Codes: Secondary Sector: Unauthorised Absence
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69 Focus Area: Individual Attendance Codes: Secondary Sector: Exclusion
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70 Focus Area: Individual Attendance Codes: Special Sector: Attendance
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73 Focus Area: Individual Attendance Codes: Special Sector: Authorised Absence
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75 Focus Area: Individual Attendance Codes: Special Sector: Unauthorised Absence
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77 Focus Area: Individual Attendance Codes: Special Sector: Exclusion
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