SOUTHAMPTON has more than two and a half times the number of secondary school pupils persistently missing lessons than the national average.

Pupil absence figures for last year's autumn term, released by the Government today, show the overall proportion of classes being missed is falling, both locally and nationally.

But they reveal that 2.1 per cent of Southampton's secondary school pupils missed 64 or more sessions in the one term - compared to just 0.8 per cent nationally.

And that high figure of youngsters, missing substantial amounts of lessons means the city's overall absence rate remains above the national average, although it is falling.

Secondary school children in Southampton were absent for a total of 8.42 per cent of lessons, in one term, which represents a fall from the 9.2 per cent.

Despite the drop, the figure is still higher than the English average, which showed that 6.92 per cent of classes were missed nationally.

Southampton's level of authorised absence is broadly the same as the English average, but it is children missing classes without prior consent that is above national levels.

Meanwhile across Hampshire, which has just 0.9 per cent of pupils classed as persistently absent, the overall number of lessons missed has fallen slightly to exactly the same as the English average.

For full reaction to the figures, see Thursday's Daily Echo.