Children Skip School

Children who skip school are increasingly on family holidays, government figures revealed today. [blank] children played truant this spring term compared with the spring term last year. Children missed 3m unauthorized days of school last term, compared with 3.7m days of school in the same period last year.But a [blank] 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 [blank] last year.Some 1.2% of all absence was for family holidays not [blank] by their school the 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.