Secondary School attendance levels at record high
27 Aug 2015 01:19 PM
Education Minister, Huw Lewis has welcomed statistics released yesterday which show secondary school attendance rates in Wales continue to rise.
Yesterday’s statistical release, Absenteeism from Secondary Schools, 2014/15 reveals overall absence is at its lowest ever recorded level.
In 2014/15:
- 6.2 per cent of half-day school sessions were missed due to overall absence and 1.3 per cent of half-day school sessions were missed due to unauthorised absence from maintained secondary, special and independent schools.
- In general, overall absence has been falling since 2005/06. In 2014/15, overall absenteeism continued to fall, dropping by 0.2 percentage points since the previous year.
- The percentage of persistent absentees in maintained secondary schools has decreased every year since 2007/08. It is now less than half what it was seven years ago, showing a drop of 5.5 percentage points from 10.0 per cent in 2007/08 to 4.5 per cent in 2014/15.
- Over 61 per cent of absenteeism was due to illness.
The Minister said yesterday:
“If pupils are going to fully benefit from their education it is vital they attend school on a regular basis.
“We know school standards are rising across the board in Wales and we are committed to ensuring young people are given every opportunity to fulfil their potential. Regular attendance at school goes a long way towards achieving this.”
“Today’s statistics are excellent news revealing school absenteeism levels are at record low levels. Congratulations must go to pupils and teachers across Wales for their continued effort and commitment.”
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