A BRADFORD union chief feels it will take years to fix attendance problems after figures showed more than a quarter of pupils in state schools missed at least 10 per cent of their lessons last year.

Department for Education figures show 24,692 out of 86,275 total pupils in Bradford missed at least 10 per cent of lesson time in the 2021-22 academic year.

It meant 28.6 per cent of pupils were persistently absent – significantly up from 18.5 per cent the year before and 14.1 per cent in 2018-19, the last full academic year before the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the overall absence rate in Bradford schools rose from 6.4 per cent to nine per cent.

Tom Bright, Bradford branch secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), thinks schools are still feeling the effects of Covid which could last for years.

"You could have foreseen this happening. It is that third generation of covid effect," he said.

"It is reintegrating students who were already struggling then managing that bad behaviour. Those students do not want to be in school.

"Bradford was not well placed to respond to it, just look at the number of vacancies."

Across England, 1.6 million pupils were persistently absent, more than double the 800,000 who missed at least 10 per cent of their lessons in 2018-19.

The persistent absent rate sat between 10 and 12 per cent in recent years but jumped to 22.5 per cent in the last academic year.

The figures also show 120,000 pupils missed at least 50 per cent of their lessons in England last year – up from 80,000 the year before and 60,000 in 2018-19.

In Bradford, 2,337 pupils (3 per cent) were severely absent throughout the academic year – up from 1,607 in 2020-21.

Mr Bright added: "It is one of the reasons why the strikes are important. The country has failed to invest in education.

"The less that is spent the problems just worsen. Bradford schools need investment, it is already playing catch up.

"It is a long-haul problem. It will take years to fix."

A Department for Education spokesperson said: "The vast majority of children are in school and learning.

"We work closely with schools, trusts, governing bodies, and local authorities to identify pupils who are at risk of becoming, or who are persistently absent and working together to support those children to return to regular and consistent education."