A WEYMOUTH school was named as one of the worst 200 schools in the country for truancy - because of a computer error.

According to new statistics out today, Budmouth Technology College lost 3.4 per cent of half-days over the last year because of unauthorised pupil absence.

But the acting principal at the college, Vince Jones, said today the published figure was due to an administrative mix-up.

He said: "The figure quoted in the tables is inaccurate. The actual figure for unauthorised absence at Budmouth over the last year bears no resemblance to the real one which is more like somewhere between 0.7 to 0.9 per cent.

"The real figure for unauthorised absence would not have got Budmouth anywhere near this league table of the 200 worst schools.

"There was an error in the way information was collected and collated here at the college because of a problem with our computers.

"We are very much aware of this internal problem and we are doing all we can now to rectify it and make sure this doesn't happen again in the future. We will be talking to the Department of Education to explain our situation and find out whether these figures can be amended."

Mr Jones said Budmouth's record in this area has improved slightly on the previous year.

He stressed that unauthorised absence and truancy are not he same thing.

He said: "Unauthorised absence can be sanctioned by parents - for instance when children are taken out of school for a holiday in term-time - that is an unauthorised absence.

"To refer to these figures as a truancy league table does not give a true picture of the real situation."