Attendance regulations
As a parent/guardian you may be concerned about your children going to school. Some may be thinking of continuing to home educate for the foreseeable future.
Attendance
There are a number of duties around attendance:
parents must ensure their child attends school regularly where the child is a registered pupil, and they are of compulsory school age
schools' have a responsibility to record attendance and follow up absence
local authorities have availability to issue sanctions, including fixed penalty notices in line with our code of conduct (PDF) [155KB]
View the information on Wellbeing support in schools on GOV.UK for advice on how schools are advised to support pupils with mental health needs.
View the information on Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school on GOV.UK for details about how schools should support pupils wit medical conditions.
Schools should be clear that pupils of compulsory school age must be in school unless a statutory reason applies, for example:
the pupil has been granted a leave of absence
is unable to attend because of sickness
is absent for a necessary religious observance
Non attendance
If schools have tried to encourage regular school attendance, for example, by:
inviting you into school or making home visits to discuss concerns
implementing Team Around the Family (TAF)/Common Assessment Framework (CAF) process
referrals to other services
schools staged response processes
then they may consider referring the matter to us for legal action to be taken.
We will investigate the circumstances by gathering information from school, parents and other agencies. We'll make every effort to resolve any issues before giving consideration to possible legal action.