Pupil attendance is the highest it has been at any point during the coronavirus pandemic, and in primary schools is in line with a typical year, new figures published today show.

The figures released by the Department for Education also show that staff absences are now the lowest they have been since the workforce data collections began last October.

They show that attendance in state-funded primary schools was 96 per cent last Thursday, up from 92 per cent on 25 March prior to the Easter holidays and “broadly in line with attendance in a typical academic year”.

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Across all state-funded schools, attendance was 94 per cent on 22 April, up from 90 per cent on 25 March.

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The DfE data document states: “Attendance for all state-funded settings in the most recent week is the highest it has been at any point during the coronavirus pandemic.”

Attendance in state-funded secondary schools was 91 per cent on 22 April, up from 87 per cent on 25 March.

The figures estimate that 0.3 per cent of teachers and school leaders in open state-funded schools were absent due to Covid reasons on 22 April, down from 1.6 per cent on 25 March.

They estimate that 0.3 per cent of teaching assistants and other staff in open state-funded schools were absent due to Covid reasons on 22 April, down from 1.8 per cent on 25 March.