Region tops list of truancy shame

There were 23,180 pupils across the region's primary and secondary schools who missed the equivalent of at least one day a week of their education during the autumn and spring terms of the last academic year.

This meant 3.6 per cent of school pupils in Yorkshire were classed as persistent absentees compared with a national average of three per cent.

The region also had the highest level of overall absence – both authorised and unauthorised by schools – in the country with more than six per cent of half days being missed.

The figures, published yesterday by the Department for Education, measure absence in half days.

They show Leeds schools had one of the highest levels of persistent absentees in the country.

Across the city's schools 4.8 per cent of pupils missed at least a fifth of their education.

This record was matched by Manchester while only Nottingham had worse figures.

Yorkshire also had the highest level of persistent absentees from primary school in the country.

There were 7,200 primary age pupils in the region who missed a fifth of their education – 2.1 per cent compared with a national average of 1.8 per cent.

Nationally, record numbers of primary school children skipped lessons without permission last year.

More than 63,000 primary and secondary pupils were missing from lessons on a typical day in the autumn and spring terms of 2009/10, according to the latest statistics.

The numbers of truanting secondary school pupils has fallen slightly, but the number of primary age youngsters skipping class has continued to rise.

The figures show that primary pupils skipped 0.68 per cent of half days, up from 0.65 per cent for the same terms in 2008/09, and 0.52 per cent three years ago in 2006/07.

It means 22,700 primary pupils missed class on a typical school day in 2009/10 through truancy, family holidays or illness, an analysis of the statistics suggests.

The overall truancy rate has fallen slightly to one per cent of half days being missed, from 1.03 per cent for the same two terms the year before.