Responding to the government's announcement of measures to tackle persistent absence, including attendance hubs, James Bowen, assistant general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said: "School attendance has not yet returned to pre-Covid levels, so there’s no doubt that we need to continue to focus on this issue.

"Attendance hubs can be a useful way to share best practice between schools, and can be helpful in developing whole-school strategies to encourage good attendance. However, if the government is truly committed to tackling this issue, it needs to invest more widely in specialist teams which work directly with children and families at a local level. This is particularly true for pupils that miss the most school.

"The decimation of services like education welfare officers over the last decade means schools no longer have access to the support they need to address this problem head-on. If the government is serious about solving this issue it will need to match this ambition with the investment needed."