Parents slammed as 'unacceptable' number of kids skip school on Fridays

The Education secretary has hit out at parents who let their children skip school on Fridays.

Gillian Keegan told the Times that parents working from home are responsible for the increase in students who miss school days. She said 50,000 more pupils were absent at the end of the week compared to the start.

She added that schools are now facing "major challenges" as parents pull their children out of class for weekends away or holidays. According to an analysis of recent government figures by the times, student absenteeism jumped up 20 per cent on the last day of the working week.

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Meanwhile, overall absence rates are 6.6 per cent on Wednesdays and rise to 7.8 per cent by the end of the work. Primary school pupils are 21 per cent more likely to be absent on Friday while 24 per cent more likely to be absent without a reason.

Unauthorised holidays are said to be up by 25 per cent when compared to pre-Covid levels. Figures released by the Department of Education for March showed that 150,000 children at state schools were classed as severely absent for the 2022-23 school year - an increase of 30,000 compared to the previous year.

It also represents a 150 per cent increase compared to the 60,000 severely absent in 2018-2019, according to government statistics. Ms Keehan more that "the Covid pandemic has had a major impact on school attendance".

She added that there were "still too many children whose attendance hasn't recovered" since the pandemic. She also stated that she wants to see normal school attendance return, warning parents: "It is unacceptable to take a deliberate decision to take your child out of school".

She also stressed that those who suffer from mild anxiety should be expected to attend school, noting that are support systems such as attendance hubs and mentors who could make "a massive difference" for schools and parents.

“Where this support-first approach does not work, we have increased the minimum fine by £20, to £80,” she said. “Every day a child is absent they will miss on average five to six lessons, time they never get back”.