Over half of Scottish secondary students have missed out on at least some time in school this academic year as a result of the Covid pandemic, Tes analysis of Scottish government figures tracking attendance has revealed.

The figures on “cumulative pupil attendance” show that 54.2 per cent of secondary students have been off “due to a Covid-related reason” so far this year (from 19 August 2021 to 5 January 2022).

The figures also show that over half of secondary students (54.5 per cent) have an attendance rate of less than 90 per cent for the same period this year. 

Headteachers are growing increasingly concerned about the amount of school some pupils - particularly those who will sit exams this year - have missed, as well as the disruption caused by high rates of teacher absence. 

This week there were more calls for clarity, this time from education directors, about whether the Scottish government and Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) intend to invoke “scenario 2”, which would see students given advance warning of the topics to be covered in the exams.

When it comes to senior students, the government figures show that the proportion of S4s who have been absent due to the pandemic is slightly higher than for secondary students overall, with 54.6 per cent of S4s having missed at least some school up to 5 January.

Meanwhile, 53 per cent of S5 students have been off because of Covid at some point this school year; for S6 students the figure is 50.1 per cent.

The overall figures for all secondary students show that 44.2 per cent missed less than 10 per cent of classes because of the pandemic, while 9.3 per cent missed 10-20 per cent of classes, and less than 1 per cent missed more than that.

The figures also look at overall attendance, not just the amount of school missed as a result of coronavirus. 

These figures show that 45.5 per cent of secondary students have an attendance rate of 90 per cent or more so far this year.

However, the proportion attending for 90 per cent or more of the time dips as low as 31 per cent when it comes to S4 students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds.

Because the figures this year take a more in-depth look at attendance as a result of the pandemic, it makes them hard to compare with previous years.

However, in 2018-19 - the last full school year unaffected by the pandemic - the attendance rate for secondary was 90.7 per cent.