Education and Skills written question – answered at on 24 February 2005.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children played truant in the last year for which figures are available.
In the school year 2003/04, 567,503 primary pupils and 696,600 secondary pupils recorded at least one half day's unauthorised absence. Unauthorised absence includes absence due to lateness or family holidays taken during term time without the school's permission, as well as truancy. Recent research in to pupil absence suggests that around 2 per cent. of secondary school pupils are persistent truants, responsible for almost half of all unauthorised absence in secondary schools.
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