Thousands of school pupils were constantly absent from county secondary schools last year, the Dorset Echo can reveal.

New figures from the Department for Education show that 3,000 students from the county missed 19 days of school on average last year, a total of 268,000 days of teaching over the academic year.

As well as this, 15 per cent of state secondary pupils in the Dorset County Council area missed at least 10 per cent of their allotted teaching time.

The figures also revealed that school heads were mostly likely to authorise time off for illness or medical appointments, totalling between 70-80 per cent of the time that pupils were absent from county secondary schools.

However, the remainder was unauthorised and includes periods of truancy and unauthorised family holidays.

Under current legislation, UK state secondary schools are required to provide a minimum of 190 days of teaching each year, with students missing more than 10 per cent of their classes being defined as persistently absent by the government.

Across the country, 14 per cent of students in state secondary schools missed 10 per cent of their classes with the highest level being in Knowsley, Merseyside where 23 per cent of state secondary pupils were persistently absent from class.

Andy Woolley, south-west regional secretary for the National Education Union, said: “What concerns our members most is when an individual child or children from a whole family miss out on several days of education when, for instance, they are taken out of school for holidays.

“When a whole class miss a day here or there say for closure due to snow or when the Government gave all schools an extra day off for the last Royal wedding research shows that the teacher makes that time up with the whole class working together.

“The problem comes when the rest of the class do, say, two weeks' work, whilst the individual pupil is taken away by her or his parents and, of course, when pupils truant. Then it is much more difficult for them to catch up the work they have missed.”

Under current legislation, councils across the country can impose fines of £60 on parents who fail to ensure their children’s attendance at school which rises to £120 if not paid within 21 days.

In response, a Department for Education spokesman said that they were working with local authorities to clamp down on the issue.

A spokesman added: “Children only get one chance at an education and evidence shows that every extra day of school missed can affect a pupil’s chances of achieving good GCSEs.

“The rules on term-time absences are clear and we have put schools back in control by supporting them - and local authorities - to use their powers to deal with unauthorised absence.”

Councillor Deborah Croney, Dorset County Council’s Cabinet member for education, learning and skills, added: “So far, this school year, Dorset County Council has issued more than 800 penalty notices to parents for their children’s unauthorised absences.

“We will continue to work closely with schools to address issues of poor attendance and to take a robust approach to absences that are not authorised. We hope to see more children in school, accessing education to help them reach their full potential.”