Numbers of pupils persistently skipping school could soar to more than 5,000 in Bradford – the equivalent of missing a month of school.

The Government is changing the definition of persistent absence in school performance tables from 20 per cent to 15 per cent absenteeism – to deal with the “reality” of pupils skipping school and the impact it has on learning.

Latest figures show there are 2,305 persistent absentees from Bradford schools. But the Department for Education said changing the criteria will mean an increase nationally from 184,000 pupils to 430,000 pupils classed as persistently absent – including about 5,370 pupils in Bradford.

Ministers say lowering the threshold will ensure that schools take action sooner to deal with absence and they will continue to look at further lowering the threshold over time.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said: “We know that children who are absent for substantial parts of their education fall behind their friends and struggle to catch up. By changing the threshold on persistent absence, we are encouraging schools to crack down on persistent absenteeism.

“We will be setting out over the coming months stronger powers for schools to use if they wish to send a clear message to parents that persistent absence is unacceptable.”

The Government says there is clear evidence of a link between poor attendance at school and low levels of achievement. Of pupils who miss between ten per cent and 20 per cent of school, only 35 per cent manage to achieve five A* to C GCSEs including English and maths.

Councillor Ralph Berry, Bradford Council’s executive member for children’s services, said: “A day not in school is a lost opportunity that may never be recovered.

“We will do our level best to address this and it will be quite a challenge for some schools who have issues with certain communities.

“We have made real progress in tackling absence and we now have many schools that are getting out of the door and ringing parents to make sure children get to school, but let’s get real. Some situations are going to be very difficult and despite schools’ best efforts, they may not meet this target.

“Are we seriously saying, take a baseball bat to these people and beat them to the ground and humiliate them? Yes, we are going to roll our sleeves up but why does the Government have to treat us like children?”

Coun Roger L’Amie, the Conservative Group’s education spokesman, said: “If children aren’t in school they aren’t getting educated and we have a problem in Bradford with low attainment. No doubt a lot has been done in ten years to try and improve that and if the Government is giving schools new weapons to improve attainment then where practical schools will use them.”

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