A survey of 30,000 16-year-olds in 2002 showed that two-thirds of persistent truants are in education, employment or training, compared with 89 per cent of occasional truants, and 96 per cent who do not truant.
Overall, the report shows that truancy levels have remained fairly static, despite the Government spending 885m on the problem since 1997-98. The Government plans to spend another 560m by the end of 2006.
The National Audit Office looked at all absences from schools. It identified a range of factors that caused absences in school and at home, including personal factors such as bullying.
Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: "Truancy and absenteeism is an intractable problem for some families. You can't blame the Government - they're damned if they do and damned if they don't.
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