HC Deb 16 June 1981 vol 6 c336W
23. Mr. Heddle

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the latest available figures for the number of secondary schoolchildren who are absent on any one day from school without a reasonable explanation.

Dr. Boyson

A national one-day survey in 1974 showed that, in maintained middle and secondary schools in England and Wales, 87,400 pupils—2.2 per cent. of the total—were away from school without a known good reason.