More than 10 per cent of lessons were missed by students absent from school earlier this month, with the vast majority being down to illness, according to new Department for Education data.
The data reveals that absence from school last term reached levels seen at the same point in December last year at the onset of the Omicron wave of the Covid pandemic.
Figures published today show the absence rate from state schools in England was 11.1 per cent in the week beginning Monday 5 December as rates of flu and other respiratory viruses, as well as higher rates of scarlet fever, surged among school-age pupils.
This is the same absence and attendance figure as seen at a similar point in 2021 (9 December) and the highest rate seen so far this term.
The DfE has been producing fortnightly attendance figures this academic year.
The absence rate of 11.1 per cent is the highest seen this term - having been recorded at 8.8 per cent towards the end of last month.
The department said the increased absence rate is being driven by increases in illness. The illness absence rate was 7.5 per cent for the week beginning 5 December, up from 6.1 per cent the previous week and 2.6 per cent at the start of term.
Last week, the FFT Datalab produced new figures from its Attendance Tracker which suggested that recent illness absence in primary schools was as high as at any point during the peak of the Omicron wave in January of this year. This was based on information from 10,000 schools using its service.
Absence remains highest in special schools
The new DfE data also shows that the pupil absence rate remains much higher in special schools - at 17.1 per cent.
The figures show that 14 per cent of missed sessions in special schools were missed through authorised absence and 3.1 per cent of the missed sessions were down to unauthorised absence.
In secondary schools, the absence rate was 12.9 per cent (9.2 per cent authorised and 3.7 per cent unauthorised).
In primary schools, the absence rate was 9.5 per cent (7.8 per cent authorised and 1.7 per cent unauthorised).
The data shows that the attendance rate across the academic year to the week beginning 5 December has been 92.7 per cent - with an absence rate of 7.3 per cent across all schools.
By school type, the absence rates across the year to date show the same pattern with special schools having the highest rates followed by secondary and primary.
In special schools, there has been a termly absence rate of 12.9 per cent, with 10 per cent of sessions missed through authorised absence and another 2.8 per cent through unauthorised absence.
In secondary schools, there has been a termly absence rate of 8.8 per cent. The data shows 5.8 per cent of sessions have been missed through authorised absence and another 2.9 per cent through unauthorised absence.
In primary schools, 6 per cent of sessions have been missed this term.
This comprises 4.6 per cent of sessions that have been missed through authorised absence and another 1.4 per cent missed through unauthorised absences.
