Anxiety is key reason as half of pupils go absent

HALF of secondary pupils have avoided school in the past year because of anxiety, a poll has found.

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A survey of 2,000 UK secondary students found 49.5% said they had missed school or avoided school because of feeling anxious at some point last academic year

The majority said this had happened less than once a month (22%). However, 5.5% of all pupils surveyed said this happened once a week, 6.7% every two to three weeks, and 8.3% once a month.

Fewer than half (47.4%) said they had never missed or avoided school due to anxiety, and the remaining pupils surveyed said they were not sure or preferred not to say.