The pressure for pupils to be on their phones at all hours, group-chatting and gaming with mates, is making them too tired for school.

That’s one of the findings of a new report published by the youth charity Impetus and the research body Public First. Their researchers spoke to Year 10 pupils across the country and found that it’s become “normal” for many to skip school.

They found that the constant urge for children to be present and active online leaves them “too tired to attend or engage with school the next day”, with lots of them now deciding each morning on whether or not to go in.

Some pupils also stay at home because they find school timetables too strict and structured. They told the researchers that there’s “less and less space in school for anything that’s not about getting good grades.”

The report says that pupils enjoy connecting with their friends in person, and that schools need to build in social time for them to do that. It adds that the most common reason pupils gave for coming to school was friendship.

It recommends that grown-ups stop seeing good grades as the only way for children to succeed at school. That way, pupils who are struggling are still encouraged to come in, to take part in activities like sport, music, drama, clubs, volunteering and trips.

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