Figures show that 40% of secondary school pupils in Wales missed, on average, an afternoon a week of the last school year
He hasn’t been in a school setting since 2022 but has had periods of home tutoring funded by the local authority, as well as specialist support.“There’s loads of things that I want to do in the future that I want to have the money to do, but if I don’t have GCSEs, I don’t feel I’ll be able to get a good enough job with a good wage.”
"At the worst part, would start biting myself, kicking myself in the back and crying a lot,” said Fflur. Although recent monthly figures show some improvement, one school in Swansea have had to put extra plans in place to try and get pupils back. Education Secretary Lynne Neagle, who chairs an attendance task force to try to address the problem, said: “It’s difficult to find a silver bullet in this space, but mental health support in school is really a big part of the solution.