PUPIL absences soared during this summer’s heatwaves, Department for Education data revealed on Friday as it confirmed schools in England will be given individual attendance targets.

Three of the six days when the absence rate in England rose above 10 per cent this summer term were during the most severe heatwave of the year.

These were on May 22 just before the half-term began and the final two Fridays of the school year.

The only days in the spring term and autumn term which saw an absence rate above 10 per cent were on March 20 — which coincided with Eid al-Fitr — and December 19 — the last day before the Christmas break.

Teachers’ union NASUWT general secretary Matt Wrack warned that the new formalised targets will not remove all the different barriers that prevent children from attending school.

He said that they must not “become another high-stakes accountability measure through which schools and staff are blamed for circumstances beyond their control.”

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) added that the overall absence rate for the 2025-26 school year, which rose very slightly on last year to 6.93 per cent, was “clearly impacted” by absence during that heatwave, as well as higher levels of illness.

The union’s general secretary Paul Whiteman said: “The impact of recent heatwaves on attendance also shows the importance of the government doing far more to ensure school buildings remain comfortable in the kind of extreme temperatures which are becoming increasingly common.”

Temperatures during the June heatwave peaked at 37.7°C and parts of the country were covered by a rare “red” warning for extreme heat.