Wales’ education secretary vowed to get to grips with attendance figures for Wales' secondary schools amid concerns it could take more than a decade to recover to pre-pandemic levels. Lynne Neagle told the Senedd she wants to the figures back to where they were before the pandemic by May next year.

Average attendance was 90.5% in the 2023/24 academic year, down from 94.3% in 2018/19 is 90.9% so far in 2024/25, according to latest statistics. Ms Neagle said: "Progress has been too slow and there is more to do. I want to see pre-pandemic levels restored within this Senedd term. That will require a collective, sustained effort."

The average attendance among pupils eligible for free school meals at 84.8%, a fall from 91.2% pre-pandemic, Ms Neagle said: "The significant amount of learning lost by those eligible for free school meals is a particular concern and must improve." For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here

Estyn’s 2023/24 annual report - which you can read about here - warned it would take more than a decade for secondary attendance to return to pre-pandemic levels at the current rate of improvement. In the Senedd on March 18, Ms Neagle said: "I am really concerned about the messages in the report about attendance and I can say to you absolutely that we are not waiting 10 years to restore our attendance levels to what they need to be."

Conservative regional Senedd member Tom Giffard said the proportion of secondary-age pupils absent for at least 20% of sessions leapt from 4.6% to 16.3% between 2018/19 and 2022/23. He said: "We've previously seen the Welsh Government welcome the slight increase in attendance numbers in Wales compared to the last academic year but again completely ignore the fact that our numbers are so much lower than the rest of the UK."

Labour’s Buffy Williams said: "Estyn’s report sets out some examples of good practice but it is also clear that, in some areas, the school system is not performing as it should." She told the Senedd that Owen Evans, Estyn’s chief inspector, found that teacher shortages are having a tangible impact on the quality of teaching and learning.

Ms Williams, who chairs the Senedd’s education committee, warned outcomes for pupils will suffer if schools continue to struggle to recruit and retain high-quality teachers.

Lee Waters, a fellow Labour backbencher, highlighted Estyn’s finding that the number of students training to be secondary teachers has declined by nearly half in the past decade. Mr Waters, a former minister, highlighted that the chief inspector pointed to a poor public perception of the profession as one of the underlying issues hindering recruitment. "Good teachers change lives, good teachers inspire a generation…," he said. "We don’t talk enough about teachers as public service servants, teachers as inspirational figures, teachers as people who can lift up others."