{"id":676784,"date":"2026-01-06T03:04:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T03:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/676784\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T03:04:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T03:04:14","slug":"thousands-of-school-pupils-in-edinburgh-missed-most-of-their-classes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/676784\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of school pupils in Edinburgh missed most of their classes"},"content":{"rendered":"

THOUSANDS of pupils in Edinburgh\u2019s schools\u00a0failed to\u00a0attend most of their classes from 2020 to 2024, with persistent absences<\/a> skyrocketing since Covid<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More\u00a0than 3,300 pupils missed\u00a0the majority of\u00a0their classes for the school year from 2020 to 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The issue is particularly pronounced in Edinburgh\u2019s secondary schools<\/a>, where the number of pupils reported to have attendance figures of less than 50% across the four years is more than 2,600.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2020, before the school year was truncated by Covid, the number of pupils that missed more than half of school days was at just over 300, but the numbers rose to more than 800 in 2023 before decreasing\u00a0marginally in\u00a02024.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>The City Chambers in Edinburgh, where the City of Edinburgh Council is based (C) Kim Traynor \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n

This is according to figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives<\/a> via\u00a0a freedom of\u00a0information (FOI)<\/a> request.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to the Conservatives, more than 73,000 pupils across Scotland have missed more than half of school time since 2020, with more than 6,000 not attending at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This totals attendance across four years, with each pupil that passed the criteria counted for each year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Therefore, the same pupil could be counted multiple times if they registered attendance of less than half in multiple years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Scottish Conservatives described this situation as \u201cdeeply alarming\u201d and a \u201csymptom of the SNP\u2019s failure on education\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Scottish Conservative shadow education secretary Miles Briggs said: \u201cSchool attendance in Scotland is in crisis, and these figures show the truly shocking scale of the problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0utterly unacceptable that so many pupils have missed at least half of their schooling \u2013 and truly terrifying that more than 6,000 have not attended school at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is yet another indicator of the SNP\u2019s desperate failure in education.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

They also\u00a0stated\u00a0that the numbers may be even higher, as many of the figures for 2024 and 2025 were incomplete.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Councillor James Dalgleish, Education, Children and Families Convener, said: \u201cWhile attendance levels are still generally good in Edinburgh, we\u2019re committed to continuously reviewing and improving our approaches and supports to enable children and young people to maximise their attendance at school.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a dedicated Educational Wellbeing Service that supports schools and families to identify and reduce barriers to attendance and offer a range of interventions to improve engagement and wellbeing.<\/p>\n

\u201cSchools also use Pupil Equity Funding to employ dedicated Pupil Support Officers to support children and young people to attend school and when necessary, put in place targeted support via partnerships with other services.\u201d<\/p>\n

When official attendance figures were detailed by the Scottish Government late last year, Edinburgh fared well, with an attendance rate of 92.1% in 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These statistics paint a grimmer picture for Edinburgh, however, with 826 out of the estimated 23,500 state secondary school pupils in Edinburgh in 2024 missing most of their classes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The issue was most pronounced in S1-S3 pupils and those not receiving free school meals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The figures do not account for private school attendance in Edinburgh, however.<\/p>\n

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