Persistent absence in the county’s high schools has fallen for a second successive year to 5.3 per cent which meets the target for 2009-10 and is just 1.2 per cent over the target for 2010-11.

The national average for persistent absence is 5.58 per cent.

Overall absence in high schools has fallen for a third successive year while the overall trend for exclusions is down too, with 18 permanent exclusions over 2008-09, the latest figure available.