More than 1 in 10 pupils missed school last week

More than one in 10 pupils missed school last week in Wales but attendance was up 4% compared with before half-term.

And attendance varied around Wales with the lowest in Anglesey at 86.6% and highest in Wrexham with 91.3%.

Releasing the latest figures the Welsh Government said the overall rise in attendance after half-term may be partly explained by the fact that fewer pupils were mixing during the break.

Latest Welsh Government data published yesterday shows 89.3% of Wales’ 474,724 statutory school age pupils attended on average over the week of November 1 to November 5.

That was up from 85.5% in the week before half-term (October 18-22).

Despite that 1.5% of pupils (7,120) missed school for a known Covidrelated reason in the first week back.

A total of 33,744 school sessions were missed for illness including Covid, which is clumped into the all-illness absence category.

Attendance in statutory school age groups was highest for pupils in Year one (91%) and lowest for pupils in Year nine (87%).

For crucial exam years attendance was 87.7% for year 11 GCSE pupils, and just 78.1% for A level year 13s.

Exam regulator Qualifications Wales announced last week that it was asking schools to prepare to assess pupils for exam grades next summer in case they have to be cancelled again by the pandemic.

The most common reason for sessions missed during the week of November 1 to November 5, 2021, was illness.

There is no separate data category for being ill with Covid (rather than off self-isolating) with repeated warnings from headteachers that this means the true picture of how much Covid is affecting schools is still unknown.

Attendance of pupils in maintained schools by council area from November 1-5 (percentage of pupils in attendance in maintained schools in Wales by year group):

■■Reception 91.1%

■■Year 1 91.5%

■■Year 2 91.3%

■■Year 3 91.3%

■■Year 4 90.9%

■■Year 5 90.4%

■■Year 6

90.3%

■■Year 7 89.9%

■■Year 8 88.2%

■■Year 9 87.4%

■■Year 10 87.5%

■■Year 11 87.7%

■■Year 12 84.6%

■■Year 13 78.1%

In the same period 7,419 pupils were working remotely due to Covid.

More than 400 school sessions were missed with pupils excluded from school with no alternative provision made.

More than 2,000 sessions were missed by pupils for agreed family holidays.

Nearly 11,000 sessions were missed with no reason for absence given.