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Children who skip school are increasingly on family holidays, government figures revealed today. Fewer children truant this spring term compared with the spring term last year. Children missed 3m unauthorised days of school last term, compared with 3.7m days of school in the same period last year. But a hardcore group of truants – 6% of the school population who account for more than three quarters of all those on unauthorized absence, are more likely to be on a family holiday than they were in the same period last year.

Some 1.2% of absence was for family holidays not agreed by their school last term, compared with 0.9% for the same term last year. More than 60% of all absences were for illness, the same figure as last year.