Michael Gove – 2014 Comments on Absences from School

The comments made by Michael Gove, the then Secretary of State for Education, on 25 March 2014.

There is no excuse for skipping school. We have taken action to reduce absence by increasing fines and encouraging schools to address the problem earlier.

Today’s figures show we are making progress, with 130,000 fewer pupils regularly missing school under this government.

Alongside our measures to give teachers powers to search pupils and impose same-day detentions, this demonstrates our determination to get tough on bad behaviour.