The former Minster College was the second worst in the county for its pupils being persistently absent last year.

The GCSE league tables released today show that 21 per cent of students were persistently absent from the school, which is now the Isle of Sheppey Academy’s east site.

At 13 schools in Kent, one in 10 pupils were not in class when they should have been.

Minster College was second only to Maidstone’s New Line Learning, where 26.7 per cent were regularly absent.

Official figures show a 1 per cent improvement for exams taken in 2009 for the number of students achieving five or more A* – C grades, including English and maths.

The figure for 2009 was 22 per cent.

There were 54 per cent of students who achieved five or more A* – C grades, and 82 per cent achieved five or more A* – G grades.

Principal of the academy, Dr Paul Mortimer, said the academy has been bought in because there was a need to raise standards.

He said: “We knew the attendance levels were lower than the national average which is why we have bought in the system of the family units.

“Alan Klee (former head at Minster College) has done a lot in the last five years to raise attendance, results and standards, but there’s still a long way to go and that’s where we come in.

“There is a link between attendance and exam results.”