There was a significant rise in Covid-related school absences over the course of the final term of the 2020-21 school year, according to national statistics.
The figures, published by the Scottish government, show that the number of pupils “not in school because of Covid-related reasons” reached a high of 43,248 on 24 June, the penultimate day for which data is available.
On the final day, 25 June, the school attendance rate was at its lowest, at 74.3 per cent.
In contrast, on the second day of the term, for which there is data - 13 April - 465 pupils were not in school for Covid-related reasons, the lowest rate recorded in the period covering April, May and June. This means that, by 24 June, 93 times more pupils were absent because of Covid-related reasons.
On 12 April, the first day of the term for which data is recorded, the highest attendance rate of the entire period was reached, at 95.5 per cent - more than 21 percentage points higher than the lowest figure recorded, on 25 June.
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The 43,248 absences for Covid-related reasons on 24 June was exceeded only three times in the August to December period before the lockdown in the early part of 2021, on three consecutive school days: 18, 21 and 22 December.
On Monday, Tes reported that schools in England were not being asked to provide the Department for Education (DfE) with figures for Covid-related absences this week.
Last week, DfE figures revealed that more than 820,000 pupils in England were unable to attend school for Covid-related reasons. The 11.2 per cent of state school pupils not attending class for Covid-19 related reasons on 8 July represented a rise from 8.5 per cent on 1 July, and 5.1 per cent on 24 June.
The statistics on Covid-related school absences in Scotland can be viewed here.
