Attendance matters to schools and families. Illness is part of that picture, but attendance data should be interpreted carefully when discussing a cleaning service.
National figures describe patterns across schools. They do not measure the performance of a particular contractor or prove that a cleaning change caused attendance to improve.
Read the reporting period first
DfE reports an overall absence rate of 6.60% for the combined autumn and spring terms of 2025/26. Illness accounted for 3.30% of possible sessions in the same period. A session is half a school day.
For the full academic year 2024/25, 18.14% of pupils were persistently absent, meaning they missed at least 10% of their possible sessions. This is a different period and a different measure from an absence rate. The original publications are linked below.
Avoid turning context into a promise
The overall absence rate includes reasons beyond illness. Persistent absence also has many contributing factors, so it would be misleading to treat that figure as a measure of preventable infection.
The publications do not establish how much any particular cleaning intervention changes absence. A provider cannot use these national figures to promise your school a specific reduction in missed days.
Review cleaning on its own terms
Ask whether the agreed tasks are completed, whether priority areas are covered and whether the school receives a timely response when something is missed. These are matters a cleaning contract can specify and review directly.
If you also examine attendance trends, involve the staff responsible for attendance and pupil wellbeing. Seasonal patterns, changes in pupil numbers and other circumstances can affect comparisons between terms.
Keep a balanced prevention plan
Professional cleaning supports infection prevention as part of a wider school approach. It should complement the setting’s hygiene arrangements and current public-health advice rather than being presented as a complete solution.
Use your next cleaning review to resolve practical gaps: unclear responsibilities, inaccessible rooms, changing usage or recurring missed tasks. Those are concrete issues a school and provider can work on together.
Sources & further reading
- DfE: pupil absence, autumn and spring 2025/26
- DfE: pupil absence, full year 2024/25
- UKHSA: health protection and cleaning guidance
Reviewed 18 October 2026. This is general information for setting leaders; use current official guidance and your setting’s risk assessments.
