One in five children regularly misses school, figures show

BBC News says More than one in five children in England are frequently missing school, data shows, in a sign attendance is still struggling to get back to pre-pandemic levels.

The children’s commissioner said some children play truant while others experience anxiety or have educational needs so find it easier at home.

Parents should get children back to school, urged Dame Rachel de Souza.

Before the pandemic, just over one in 10 students were persistently absent.

Pupils count as persistently absent if they miss 10% or more of their school days, which is roughly one or more days every fortnight over the school year.

Over the last academic year, Department for Education (DfE) figures show 22.3% of pupils in England were persistently absent.

Speaking to BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Dame Rachel said this equated to 1.8 million children, and estimated that 100,000 of those were playing truant.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66701748