Written question WQ95419

The Welsh Government does not collect or publish information on the average daily absence rate of school teachers.

However, information is published on the percentage of teachers that have taken a period of sickness absence during the year.

To note the methodology for collecting information on teacher sickness absence and its coverage has changed in recent years. Up until the introduction of teacher sickness absence data into the School Workforce Annual Census (SWAC) in 2021 information was collected over a calendar year on an aggregated level from local authorities and did not provide a breakdown by school sector. This information is available for calendar years 2015 to 2020.

Information on teacher sickness absences from SWAC enables the information to be published by school sector and is available for academic years 2020/21 to 2022/23.

The information for calendar year 2020 and academic year 2020/21 covers a time period during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which affected how schools operated and may have an effect on the data presented.

Local authorities as the overarching employer for most school-based employees are responsible for collating and disseminating individual and benchmarked absence data to support the monitoring of workforce absence.

Table 1: Proportion of teachers taking a period teacher sickness absence, calendar years 2015 to 2020

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

All schools

61%

63%

61%

61%

62%

47%

Source: Local authority aggregated data collection

Further information: https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Education-and-Skills/Schools-and-Teachers/teachers-and-support-staff/pupil-Level-annual-school-census/Teacher-Sickness-Absence

Table 2: Proportion of teachers taking a period teacher sickness absence by school sector, academic years 2020/21 to 2022/23

2020/21

2021/22

2022/23

Primary

36%

62%

55%

Secondary

46%

70%

69%

Special

48%

70%

64%

All schools

40%

65%

61%

Source: School Workforce Annual Census (SWAC)

Further information: https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Education-and-Skills/Schools-and-Teachers/teachers-and-support-staff/school-workforce-annual-census/teacher-sickness-absence/teachersicknessabsence-averageworkingdaylost-by-localauthority-absencetype