The 15 Northern Ireland secondary schools with the highest attendance rates - new Department of Education data

Attending school as much as possible is vital, for young people to make the most of their education - and the opportunities it brings.

Over the 2021/22 and 2022/23 academic years, school attendance rates in Northern Ireland fell to their worst levels on record. The BBC reports that about 30% of pupils across each of the two school years had “chronic” or “severe chronic” absence rates - significantly higher than in England or Wales.

NI Direct - the official government website for Northern Ireland citizens - says that going to school regularly is important for a child's future, with the benefits of regular school attendance including better exam performance - and eventually, job prospects. It also helps young people develop friendships, social skills, team values, life skills, and cultural awareness. It also warns parents that they are legally responsible for making sure their children go to school, and if they don’t, they could face fines or prosecution.

We’ve taken a look at the latest attendance figures from the Department of Education published just last month, which cover state-funded schools in the most recently-ended 2023/24 school year. We’ve used this data to work out which state secondary schools across the country had the highest attendance rates over the last academic year. There was a surprising amount of overlap with schools that topped the performance league tables last year too - even more testament to the importance of going to school regularly.

Here were the 15 schools from across Northern Ireland that boasted the top school attendance rates: