This month, the Department for Education published a new analysis, School attendance: annual and one-off events driving short-term absences, exploring the everyday events that quietly chip away at children’s time in school. Some of the findings are eye-catching (yes, the DfE really did measure the attendance impact of Taylor Swift concerts), but one statistic should make every school leader pause: medical and dental appointments accounted for more than 8 million missed sessions in the 2024 to 2025 academic year.
Look a little closer and the picture becomes more troubling. When a pupil misses a morning session for an appointment, only 53.9% return to school that afternoon. In other words, around half of all appointment absences turn into a full day out of the classroom. A 45-minute check-up becomes six lost hours of learning.
That is not a register problem. It is a learning problem. And I believe it is one we can solve.
The timing of this release is no accident. In February, the government published its schools white paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving, which sets out a ten-year vision for education in England and puts attendance front and centre. Around one in five children currently misses a day of school every fortnight, and the white paper commits to raising national attendance above 94% by 2028/29; the equivalent of 20 million additional days in school every year.
Medical absence sits in an awkward corner of that ambition. It is authorised, it is legitimate, and much of it is unavoidable; children need to see doctors, dentists and specialists. But authorised does not mean cost-free. The DfE’s data shows that over a third of pupils (37.3%) missed at least one session for an appointment last year, and 4.2% missed six or more. That smaller group matters enormously: these are often the children managing ongoing medical conditions, the very pupils for whom continuity of learning is most fragile.
When we discuss medical absence, we tend to focus on the register. Present or absent. Code M or code I. But in my conversations with schools across the country, the real cost is rarely the absence itself; it is what fails to follow the child.
Too often, that knowledge sits in silos: a paper file in the medical room, a note in the office, a conversation that never reaches the people teaching the child five hours a day.
Picture a typical scenario. A pupil leaves at morning break for a hospital appointment and does not return until the next day. The medical room knows why. The office knows when. But does the classroom teacher know what the child missed, whether their condition affects how they learn, or what support they might need on their return? Too often, that knowledge sits in silos: a paper file in the medical room, a note in the office, a conversation that never reaches the people teaching the child five hours a day.
The same gap extends to the home. Parents are rightly told that their child must attend appointments, but they are rarely equipped to keep learning going around them. If teachers knew about an appointment in advance, they could prepare resources for the child and the parent: the work being covered that day, catch-up materials, and a short task to bridge the gap. The appointment does not have to stop the learning. The lack of communication is what stops the learning.
The DfE’s analysis points to practical steps that any school can take:
Track appointment absences properly. Identify the pupils with repeated code M sessions and ask why. Is it a managed condition, a pattern of avoidable scheduling, or a family that needs support?
Make part-day attendance the norm. With half of appointment absences becoming full days, a clear expectation that pupils return after a morning appointment could recover hundreds of sessions a year in a single school.
Close the loop between the medical room and the classroom. Teachers cannot support what they cannot see. Health information, shared appropriately, is teaching information.
Equip parents, not just inform them. Pair every planned absence with learning resources so families can keep the momentum going.
This is precisely the intersection we built Medical Tracker for. Our platform lets schools record medical events and appointments in seconds, shares the right information with the right staff, and notifies parents automatically. Reporting across a school or trust reveals the patterns the DfE has now confirmed at the national level: which pupils are missing the most learning to medical needs, where full-day absences are creeping in, and where targeted support would make the biggest difference.
Just as importantly, it gives teachers visibility. When the classroom knows what the medical room knows, schools can plan ahead, prepare resources, and make sure that a child’s health needs never quietly become a learning gap.
The white paper has set an ambitious national target, and this new analysis shows that medical absence is a meaningful and manageable part of reaching it. I would like to hear how your school or trust is approaching this challenge: what is working, where the gaps are, and what support you need.
If you would like to discuss any of this or see how Medical Tracker could help your school turn medical absence data into action, please get in touch through our Contact page. I would welcome the conversation.