Students on free school meals (FSM) are almost three times more likely to be persistent absentees from school, new figures have revealed.
Persistent absenteeism is defined as those students who miss more than 15 per cent of the academic year.
The latest figures from the Department for Education (DfE), which relate to the 2012/13 school year, show that overall, across all schools, that 4.6 per cent of pupils are persistent absentees – down from 5.2 per cent in 2011/12.
However, persistent absentees now account for 22.4 per cent of all student absence, compared with 25.1 per cent in 2011/12.
As usual, the figures are based on attendance across the first five half-terms of the year, with the sixth half-term historically being excluded because activities such as work experience can skew the figures.
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