Region has highest rate of persistent absences

More than one in 30 pupils across the region’s primaries, secondaries and special schools were classed as being persistently absent from lessons – meaning they missed a fifth or more of their schooling.

Figures released by the Department for Education yesterday show 22,314 children across Yorkshire missed the equivalent of at least one day a week of lessons during the 2009/10 academic year.

At secondary school level, 5.3 per cent of pupils were classed as persistently absent while across all schools the figure was 3.4 per cent. In both cases this was higher than any other region across England.

Truancy at secondary school level was also higher in Yorkshire than anywhere else. Figures for unauthorised absence, which also includes parents taking children on holiday or extended trips without the school’s permission, are measured by the number of half-days missed by pupils.

Yesterday’s figures show that 1.85 per cent of half-days were missed through unauthorised absence at secondary school level across the region in the last academic year. This compares with a national figure of 1.45 per cent. Truancy at primary school level in Yorkshire was not the worst in England but was higher than the national average.

Across England’s state primary schools truancy reached record levels last year, with figures showing pupils missed 0.67 per cent of school sessions owing to “unauthorised absence” in 2009/10. The overall truancy rate for all schools in England dropped marginally to 1.04 per cent, from 1.05 per cent the year before. While rates in primaries rose again this year, truancy levels in state secondaries dropped.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said that despite the overall drop absenteeism was “still too high”. “We know that children who are absent for substantial parts of their education fall behind their peers and can struggle to catch up. The Government’s Education Bill will put teachers back in control of the classroom so pupils can learn without disruption and teachers have more power to tackle truancy”.

The statistics are likely to raise fresh concerns that parents are still taking pupils out of school during term time to take advantage of cheap family holiday deals.