School attendance in Wales continues to fall again, despite a drop in Covid cases. As pupils break up for the Easter holidays worrying numbers are still missing school.
With exams just weeks away around three in 10 year 13 A level pupils and around two in 10 year 11 GCSE pupils are absent. Nearly 15% of pupils failed to turn up to school in the week of April 4-8.
The latest Welsh Government figures, published on April 13, also show nearly a quarter of all pupils in Wales (115,663) have missed more than a week of face to face learning for a known Covid-related reason since the start of the academic year. In the same period nearly eight in 10 pupils (374,623) have missed more than a week for any reason. Headteachers and teaching unions have warned of their fears over persistently low attendance despite a fall in schools Covid cases. Some have warned children have got out of the habit of going to classes or sticking to timetables during the disruption of the pandemic and you can read more about that here.
