As the summer holidays get underway the vast number of children who missed school in Wales this academic year is laid bare in new official data. 62,921 children were absent from the classroom for 40.5 days or more between September 2021 and July.
More than one in 10 pupils were absent at the end of term and more than one in 10 have missed a week or more of face-to-face learning since the start of the school year last September. Persistent absence which began at the start of the pandemic has continued right to the end of this academic year and experts have warned school is now viewed as "optional".
Across the school year latest Welsh Government data shows 422,339 children (87.6% of pupils) were absent from school for more than a week for any reason between September 6 2021 and the end of term in July. Nearly one in four year 10 secondary pupils were off and two in 10 year nines missed school at the end of term. You can get more education news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
Read more: The beautiful message a head teacher sent staff and pupils to recognise how hard things have been
Thousands of school sessions have also been missed for unauthorised and authorised holidays taken during term time.
Latest Welsh Government school attendance figures show:
- 62,921 children have been absent for 40.5 days or more from school since September 2021, for any reason. A further 359 were off for that length of time for covid-related reasons.
- 26.9% of pupils, a total 129,489, missed more than a week of face-to-face learning due to a known covid-related reason (5.5 days or more) between September 2021 and July 2022.
-
In the week of July 11-15 attendance was 86.5% for all year groups except exam years 11, 12 and 13. If those years are included - and many will have been off for study leave or have left and not expected in - attendance stood at 83.2%.
Headteachers have warned absence is a major problem and it seems likely to continue into the new academic year. Although the Welsh Government has re-introduced penalties for not sending children to lessons Education Minister Jeremy Miles has said that must be used only as a last resort.
Some children never returned to their classrooms since they first shut down when the pandemic hit in March 2020. Schools have warned absence will impact future prospects and achievement but have also acknowledged a growing mental health crisis affecting how some pupils feel about coming in - others may feel so far behind they have lost confidence.
The least advantaged children are most likely to miss lessons. The latest data from the end of term shows a six percentage point gap in attendance between those entitled to free school meals and their better-off peers.
Covid still caused disruption right to the end of the summer term with 2.1% of all secondary pupils and 0.8% of all primary pupils off lessons for a known Covid-related reason between July 11 and 15, the data reveals.
On July 15 alone 12,970 (13%) of primary school children were absent including 942 for a known covid-related reason. The same day 15,797 secondary school children were off (32.4%) including 1,051 for a covid-related reason.
The number of pupils off school by length of time due to Covid since September 2021
0.5 to 1 days: 59,073 pupils
1.5 to 2 days: 43,304 pupils
2.5 to 3 days: 31,883 pupils
3.5 to 4 days: 30,906 pupils
4.5 to 5 days: 37,298 pupils
5.5 to 10 days: 93,505 pupils
10.5 to 15 days: 25,206 pupils
15.5 to 20 days: 6,968 pupils
20.5 to 25 days: 2,113 pupils
25.5 to 30 days: 846 pupils
30.5 to 35 days: 341 pupils
35.5 to 40 days: 151 pupils
40.5 days or more: 359 pupils
The number of pupils off school by length of time for any reason since September 2021
0.5 to 1 day: 7,843
1.5 to 2 days: 9,662
2.5 to 3 days: 10,777
3.5 to 4 days: 11,801
4.5 to 5 days: 13,510
5.5 to 10 days: 82,043
10.5 to 15 days: 83,755
15.5 to 20 days: 67,213
20.5 to 25 days: 47,916
25.5 to 30 days: 34,775
30.5 to 35 days: 25,195
35.5 to 40 days: 18,521
40.5 days or more: 62,921
Average attendance by school year group July 11-15
Reception 88.9%
Year 1: 89.8%
Year 2: 90%
Year 3: 90%
Year 4: 89.9%
Year 5: 89.3%
Year 6: 90.7%
Year 7: 85.6%
Year 8: 82.7%
Year 9: 80.3%
Year 10: 76.2%
Year 11: 13.6%
Year 12 :63.1%
Year 13: 28.6%
Absence high on the list of priorities, says Education Minister
Responding to questions about school absences at a meeting of the Senedd's Children Young People and Education Committee last month Education Minister Jeremy Miles said it was high on the list of priorities. And he agreed that mental health problems could be a reason children are missing school.
"All our schools want to do their absolute utmost to re-engage parents and learners by having a relationship with those families and encouraging them back to school. That is the focus of effort across our school system," he told the committee meeting on June 29 .
"But is there a case, in the most extreme circumstances, that I can envisage fixed-penalty notices being appropriate? Well, the answer to that is 'yes', but they are the most extreme cases and they are effectively the last resort, and not for early intervention.
"I would not regard them as appropriate for early intervention—they are last resort. I think that that is how schools and local authorities would also want to use them as well.
"I'm very, very mindful of the fact that the attendance patterns for pupils who are eligible for free school meals is a significant issue. That's why the work around the family engagement officer funding that we've provided—the school engagement with those families, those learners specifically, for a tailored, bespoke approach—is so important. There is a range of ways in which we can respond to attendance."
He said speaking to pupils and their families and "developing a trusted relationship with them" is important and funding the Welsh Government has made available for family engagement officers will be an important step to help.
Read next:
-
A police officer, a mental health nurse...' The wish list a headteacher says would help
-
Parents say they can't afford to send their children to school, headteachers warn
- The children learning to cope with dyslexia and the school in Wales set up just to help them
- Exam results will be lower this summer in most schools and colleges says qualifications chief
