More than 1m school pupils in England absent last week due to Covid

Young journalists club

News ID: 52321
Publish Date: 23:06 - 20 July 2021
Tuesday,20 July 2021 (YJC) _Official figures reveal 14.3% of children were not in class because of coronavirus-related issues.

More than 1m school pupils in England absent last week due to CovidMore than 1 million children in England were out of school last week for Covid-19-related reasons, with absence rates at a record level, government figures have revealed.

As state schools head towards the summer holiday, official figures released by the Department for Education (DfE) showed another huge drop in attendance with approximately one in seven pupils not in school (1.05 million), the highest rates of absence since schools fully reopened in March.

The statistics show that 14.3% of children were not in class last week because of Covid-related issues, up from 11.2% the week before. Secondary schools are again worst hit, with 17.9% of pupils absent compared with 17.5% a week earlier.

The number of schools forced to close entirely as a result of Covid has also gone up, while numbers self-isolating after a contact in school jumped significantly from 624,000 to 774,000. A further 160,000 pupils were self-isolating because of a contact outside school, up from 123,000 a week earlier.

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