More than 70,000 pupils have missed half of school – and over 6,000 haven’t attended at all – in the last six years, the Scottish Conservatives can reveal.
Freedom of Information requests submitted by the party to local authorities show that 73,184 pupils had an attendance rate of below 50% from 2019-20 to 2024-25, while a further 6,270 pupils did not attend school at all during the same period.
The true total is likely to be even higher, as Aberdeen didn’t provide the attendance numbers needed, and 16 local authorities did not supply a full six-year dataset.
This is especially concerning as research has shown that persistently absent pupils are more than three times as likely to commit a criminal offence by 17 than pupils who attend regularly.
Shadow education secretary Miles Briggs has described the situation as “deeply alarming”, and yet another symptom of the SNP’s failure on education.
Scottish Conservative shadow education secretary Miles Briggs said: “School attendance in Scotland is in crisis, and these figures show the truly shocking scale of the problem.
“It’s utterly unacceptable that so many pupils have missed at least half of their schooling – and truly terrifying that more than 6,000 have not attended school at all.
“This is yet another indicator of the SNP’s desperate failure in education.
“We know that the best place for most children to learn is in the classroom, so the fact that thousands are missing school is deeply alarming and risks long-term harm to their education and wellbeing.
“The Scottish Conservatives are calling for urgent national action from SNP ministers to tackle persistent absence, support parents and pupils, and ensure that every child is in school and receiving the education they deserve.”
Notes to editors
Over 70,000 pupils missed half of school over the last six years. From 2019-20 to 2024-25, 73,184 pupils had an attendance rate below 50%. The true figure is likely to be higher as Aberdeen did not provide the correct data needed, and 16 local authorities did not supply a complete six-year dataset, e.g. missing 2019-20. (Various Freedom of Information requests, available on request).
Over 6,000 pupils missed all of school over the last six years. From 2019-20 to 2024-25, 6,270 pupils had an attendance rate of 0%. The true figure is likely higher as Aberdeen did not provide the correct data needed, and East Lothian and Shetland didn’t provide the data at all. Also, 16 local authorities did not supply a complete six-year dataset, e.g. missing 2019-20. (Various Freedom of Information requests, available on request).