'Unacceptable' | WFH parents to blame for spike in school absences, education secretary claims

The Education Secretary says parents who work from home could be responsible for a spike in school absences, particularly on Fridays.

Gillian Keegan said schools were facing “major challenges with data showing unauthorised holiday absence increasing by 25 per cent.”

Keegan was writing in The Times when she claimed: “There are regularly 50,000 more pupil absences on a Friday compared with Mondays, which could be linked with many parents working from home.”

She added that attendance was “fundamental to a child's future success in life” and that improving attendance rates would be her top priority.