Across Dorset schools there is a clear pattern:

• if a student is absent for less than one day a month they have an 87% chance of getting 5 A*- C grades at GCSE
• if a student is absent for less than one day in a fortnight they have a 75% chance of getting 5 A*-C grades at GCSE
• if a student is absent once a week or more they have only a 20% chance of getting 5 A*-C grades at GCSE

Habits of poor attendance and lateness in school are often repeated in working life. Poor attendance in the work place cost the UK £12 billion in 2003. One billion hours of teaching time was missed by children in the UK in that same year!