London, Oct 5 : British teenagers who dodge school tests will now be ‘bribed’ with a 100-pound prize under proposals to deal with high rates of absence for exams.

A Government report has sanctioned the use of prize draws to attract more pupils to attend the "key-stage" national curriculum tests for 14-year-olds.

As per the plans, students who undertake the tests would be entered in a draw, with the winners scooping a 100-pound reward.

State school pupils aged 14 are required to take key-stage tests in English, maths and science to test their progress before they commence GCSE courses.

However, figures released by the Department for Children, Schools and Families have revealed that almost 32,600 students have missed at least one of the tests this year.

The absence rate is nearly 4 per cent, far higher than the 1 per cent absence rate in equivalent tests for 11-year-olds.

Most of the schools have been successful in decreasing absence levels during the duration of the study, by using a range of strategies and incentives.

These included 'entering all students who attended fully, came properly equipped and behaved appropriately into a draw for a 100 pounds prize'.

Other tactics included "providing water and cereal bars for each session" and "breakfast clubs and/or football clubs after tests".

However, school headmasters' leader has called the incentives "bribes".

"This seems like desperation. Actually having to bribe children to sit a test is not the right way to encourage young people to do well. We have vast evidence now of pupil progress through teacher assessment and that is the way to go,” the Daily Mail quoted Mick Brookes, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, as saying. (ANI)