This report is the 17th publication of school attendance data in state-aided schools for the 202324 school year. The data covers 21 years with the first publication in 2003. In line with the Education (Welfare) Act of 2000, all primary schools, including special schools, and postprimary schools must report annually on student non-attendance in primary and post-primary schools at an aggregated level. This data is collected using the Tusla Portal hosted by the Child and Family Agency to generate two reports. The data is presented first from the Annual Attendance Report (AAR), which provides four pieces of data.

• total days lost by all students
• total students absent for 20 or more days
• total students suspended
• total students expelled at the school level.

The second, the Student Absence Reports (SAR), first published in the 2017-18 academic year, are submitted by a school as a pupil-level report. These reports provide data on those students aged over six and under 16 absent for a cumulative total of 20 or more days by the reasons for their absence. The reason for absence may be one of:

• Illness
• Urgent
• Holiday
• Suspension
• Other

These categories make up the explained absences, and the left-over of absences not covered under these categories make up the unexplained category absences. This report is presented in three sections. Section 1 provides an introduction and executive summary of the main findings for primary and post-primary schools. Section 2 shows the results of the AAR, while section 3 shows the results of the SAR.