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.
