More than 10,000 Scots pupils absent on Friday

Mo r e t h a n 10,0 0 0 S c o t t i s h pupils were absent from classes on one single day last week for reasons related to Covid-19 – missing either all or part of the school day.

Ac c o r d i n g t o t h e S c o t t i s h Government, who yesterday published data on attendance and absence in local authorit y scho ols, including coro - n a v i r u s - r e l a t e d a b s e n c e s , a total of 10,665 pupils were absent from school on Friday 21 August.

The latest government data also shows the overall attendance rate at local authority primar y, secondar y and special schools was 91.8 per cent.

The absence rate for Covid-19 related reasons was 1.5 p e r c e n t , a n d f o r n o n C ov - id-19 related reasons was 6.7 per cent. Drawn directly from information held on school s y s t e m s , t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n is classed as “management i n f o r ma t i o n”, a s i t h a s n o t been subjected to the rigorous qualit y assurance processes that would normally be under taken when statistics are published as “official” or “national” statistics.

A s t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n m ay subsequently be updated by schools, these figures are subject to revisions.