Almost one in ten secondary school pupils missed school in the last week of September after sickness absence doubled in just two weeks.
Attendance data published by the Department for Education shows overall absence leapt to 6.9 per cent in the week beginning September 25.
Although absence is still lower than during much of the spring and summer term, which was also affected by strikes, it marks a 38 per cent rise on the 5 per cent seen in the week-commencing September 11.
It is also higher than at the same point last year, when absence sat at around 6.5 per cent. Before Covid, absences of around 4.5 per cent were more common.
