Edinburgh schools: Figures show over 3,000 missed more than half the school year
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Scottish Conservative shadow education secretary Miles Briggs called the figures “utterly damning” and accused Scottish Government ministers of “being asleep at the wheel”.
The figures, obtained by the Conservatives under Freedom of Information (FoI) legislation, come as Capital pupils prepare to return to school on Tuesday after the festive break.


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Hide AdIn response to a series of FoI requests from the party, Edinburgh council revealed that 3,217 primary and secondary school pupils were absent from school for more than half of the year in 2023/24.
The figures showed that 14.4 per cent (4,548) of all primary school pupils and 16.5 per cent (3,833) of all secondary school pupils in Edinburgh missed more than 10 per cent of the school year.
Some 4.6 per cent (1,454) of primary pupils and 9.3 per cent (2,156) of secondary pupils missed more than 20 per cent of the school year.
Mr Briggs, who is a Lothian MSP, said ministers had failed to act while more and more pupils were missing learning time in the classroom.
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Hide AdAnd he said the figures must be an “urgent wake-up call” for SNP ministers to “do all they can” to get children back into the classroom.
Mr Briggs said that similar information from other councils, together with the Edinburgh statistics, showed that at least 70,000 pupils missed a day of school each week.
He said: “These figures are deeply alarming and point to a growing trend of many children simply not turning up for school.
“SNP Ministers have been asleep at the wheel while this crisis has escalated. We know that the best place for pupils to learn is in the classroom, but these figures show that astonishing numbers of children are frequently absent.
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Hide Ad“That will be having a hugely detrimental impact on their progress and their wellbeing. The figures from Edinburgh are replicated across Scotland which is further evidence of the SNP’s completely negligence on education.
“The true figures are likely to be even higher as not all of Scotland’s councils provided figures. SNP ministers have failed to act as violence has spiralled out of control in our schools, meaning many pupils feel unsafe in the classroom.
“These shocking figures must be an urgent wake-up call for SNP ministers to do everything they can to encourage pupils back into the classroom in the year ahead.”
The Scottish Government said it was known that Covid lockdowns had affected school attendance, but the most recent statistics had shown some positive improvement in attendance and persistent absence levels.
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Hide AdA spokesperson said Education Scotland had published a range of good practice support materials for schools on the issue and many headteachers were using the Scottish Government-backed Pupil Equity Fund to help employ additional staff to help with school attendance.
"The Scottish Government has announced that there will be a national marketing campaign to help support improving attendance and reducing absence in the new year."
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