Although absences declined in primary and secondary schools between 2005/06 and 2006/07, they increased in special schools, academies and city technology colleges.
During 2006/07, 2.98 per cent of school days were missed in academies, 2.07 per cent in special schools and 1.5 per cent in secondary schools as a result of unauthorised absences.
Steve Sinnott, general secretary at the National Union of Teachers, said: "Academies are in disadvantaged areas but they're also accompanied by a hype that says they do better by their students than other types of schools.
"The statistics show that there is a question mark about how well they are doing in relation to their most vulnerable pupils."
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