- A new poll reveals that nearly half of UK secondary school pupils (49.5 per cent) avoided school in the past academic year due to anxiety.
- While most reported less than monthly avoidance, a notable percentage missed school weekly (5.5 per cent), every two to three weeks (6.7 per cent) or once a month (8.3 per cent).
- Year 13 pupils were six times more likely than Year 7 pupils to avoid school due to stress, with female pupils reporting higher rates of avoidance than male pupils.
- Key causes of anxiety cited by students include exam and grade pressure (27.6 per cent), speaking in front of class (21.4 per cent) and fear of falling behind (18.2 per cent).
- Over a third of pupils felt their teachers rarely or never understood their anxiety, prompting calls from teaching unions for increased investment in mental health services to address the ongoing absence crisis.
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