Pupil absence rates at schools in England have climbed to their highest level so far this calendar year, new figures show.
Some 8.4% of pupils were absent across the week ending March 31, up from 7.0% the previous week.
It is the highest level since the last week of the autumn term in December 2022, when the rate stood at 14.3% amid a surge in cases of both flu and Covid-19.
An estimated 3.2% of pupils were away from school for unauthorised reasons in the latest week – again, the highest since the end of December.
The figures, which have been published by the Department for Education, also show the rate of persistent absence so far this academic year is 22.6%.
This is the proportion of pupils who have missed 10% or more of their possible school sessions, defined as half a day.
