The number of school students dropping completely off the radar has doubled over the pandemic.

Latest truancy data shows just 46 percent of students attended school regularly in term one, down from 65 percent in term four last year.

However, Te Ora Hou Otautahi data shows 766 Canterbury students are out of the system completely, up from 400 pre-pandemic.

Project Manager Simon Britten told Mike Hosking things are hard at the moment.

“That is a real worry, the numbers are significant and every child out of school is a concern.”

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