The Government has been criticised over “alarming” figures on pupil absence from schools last autumn, with nearly a quarter of students persistently absent.
The latest data from the Department for Education showed that 23.5% of pupils had missed 10% or more sessions (morning or afternoon) of school during the autumn term of the 2021-22 academic year, equating to more than 1.6 million pupils and up from 13% in 2020.
