Fewer children have been bunking off school in Oxfordshire for the second year running, according to a report released today.

Government figures for 2007-2008 showed the county’s absence levels were lower than both the South East and national averages.

Five per cent of secondary school pupils – one in 20 – were deemed ‘persistently absent’, compared to 5.5 per cent the previous year and 6.2 per cent in 2005-2006.