Working together to improve school attendance

Being in school and having the best attendance possible underpins all the many benefits
of school for your child, such as their learning, wellbeing and wider development.

For some children, attending school every day will be harder than for others. This is why
schools, and local councils in some cases, are committed to working together with
families to solve problems and support your child’s school attendance. This guide covers
two areas:

• parents’ responsibilities1 for school attendance and what you need to do when
your child needs to be absent.
• How schools and local authorities will work with you to support your child’s
attendance.

Parents’ responsibilities

What are my responsibilities for my child’s attendance?

As a parent, you are legally responsible for making sure your child gets a suitable full-
time education, usually from the age of 5 to 16.
For most parents, this will mean making sure your child is in school every day except
when:
- Your child is too ill to go to school.
- You have permission for a leave of absence from your child’s school for them not
to attend. You should only ask for this in exceptional circumstances.
- Your religious body has a day especially for religious observance.
There are also some other circumstances for example where:
- Your local council is responsible for arranging your child’s transport to school and
it is not available on that day or has not been provided yet.
- Your child attends an independent school that is beyond walking distance from
home and your local council has not arranged for your child to board at or near the
school or attend another school closer to home.
- Your child does not have a permanent address and you are required to travel for
work. (This exception only applies if your child attends their usual school or
another school where you are staying as often as possible. This must be 200 half
days or more a year if they are aged 6 or older.)

1The meaning of ‘parent’ in relation to a child includes any person who is not a
parent but who has parental responsibility for the child or who has care of the child,
as set out in section 576 of the Education Act 1996.

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Whilst some absence is unavoidable, it is important that your child is in school every day
they can be for their learning, wellbeing and development.

If my child needs to be absent from school, what do I need to do?

You should contact their school as early as possible on the first day of absence to explain
why. If you do not, your child’s school will contact you on the first morning of their
absence to find out why your child is not in school.

All parents can request a ‘leave of absence’ for their child which gives them permission to
be absent from school. Your child’s school has the final say over whether to approve the
request and for how long your child can be absent.

My child has a short term illness. Do they have to go to school, and will
I be penalised if they don’t?
If your child is ill, read the NHS advice to help you decide whether they can go to school.
If they are too ill to attend, you are not breaking the law and will not be penalised. You
should let the school know as soon as possible on the first day of absence and schools
must record such absences as authorised. If the absence due to illness is ongoing or
frequent you should speak to child’s school to see what support can be put in place.

Do I need to provide medical evidence to support my child’s illness

related absence?

If your child is too ill to attend school, schools must record these absences as authorised.
In the majority of cases medical evidence is not needed, but schools may ask you for
evidence where:

- Your child is regularly absent because of illness, to assess how they can help your
child by putting the right reasonable adjustments in place.
- In a small number of cases where they have reason to believe your child was not
too ill to attend and a conversation cannot resolve the issue.

If you are asked to provide evidence this does not need to be a letter from your doctor or
consultant, and doctors will not usually provide such letters. It can, instead, be
appointment cards, prescriptions, or notes of previous consultations (including from the
NHS App).

A lack of written evidence must not prevent the right support being put in place or the
absence being authorised if you can demonstrate your child was, or is, unable to attend,
or is awaiting treatment. If you are asked for evidence you cannot provide, a conversation
between the school, child and parent can help to resolve the issue.

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What should I do if my child needs a dental or medical appointment in
school time?
To avoid disruption to your child’s attendance, medical and dental appointments should
not be booked during the school day whenever reasonably possible. When they are, you
should ask the school in advance for a leave of absence and collect them as close to the
time of the appointment as possible and return them to school for the rest of the school
day afterwards.

Accessing support to help my child attend school

My child is struggling to attend because of an issue in school. Who

can help us?
The first step is to talk to your child’s school about why your child is missing school, and
what help the school can give. You should still do everything you can to help your child
attend as much as possible whilst waiting for help and support to be put into place.
Information on who in school you can contact for help, including the school’s senior
leader responsible for attendance, can be found in the school’s attendance policy on its
website or available in hard copy from the school. The school and local council are
expected to follow the expectations set out in the guidance document Working together
to improve school attendance.
If your child is struggling to attend because of something that is happening at school,
their school is expected to work with you (and your child if they are old enough) to
overcome the issues. You should agree a set of joint actions with the school that you
have all developed together to support your child. This will often include a commitment
to support you and your child by working together or help you to access support services
in exchange for an agreement from you (and your child if they are old enough to
understand) to take part in the support offered. The school will also arrange times for you
to come together to review these actions and your child’s progress.
Depending on the reasons for your child’s absence, this may take the form of an action
plan, an early help plan, or a parenting contract.

My child is struggling to attend because of an issue at home or getting

to school. Who can help us?
Again, talking to the school should be your first step. It is expected to help you access the
support you need – such as from a school nurse or local housing or transport team.
Your local council’s school attendance team is expected to work with the school and
provide access to the support you need if the issues you or your child are facing are
beyond the remit of the school. If there are lots of reasons for your child’s absence, local
services are expected to work together to support you and your child. They are expected
to provide you with a single action plan and lead worker to help and support you. In most

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cases this will be a member of school staff but it might be a member of local council or
local healthcare staff.
In exchange, you are expected to agree and take part in accessing the support once it
has been put in place. It is advisable to regularly meet with your child’s school to review
what is and isn’t working, involving your child if possible. While waiting for help, you
should still do everything you can to help your child attend as much as possible

Accessing support for my child with long term illness or

special educational needs and disabilities

My child has a long term illness, special educational needs or a

disability that is impacting their attendance. What help is available?
If your child is regularly absent from school because of illness (regardless of whether it is
mental or physical) or special educational needs or a disability, they have the same right
to a suitable full-time education as any other child. You should work with your child’s
school to discuss the reasons and make sure the right support is in place.
All schools are expected to provide support in these cases. More information can be
found in your child’s school’s policy on supporting pupils with medical conditions.

Schools are expected to:

- Work with you to make reasonable adjustments to help your child attend. These
could include adjustments to uniform, transport, routines, access to support or
lunchtime arrangements.
- Ensure your child receives the right pastoral care and in certain cases consider a
time-limited phased return to school where appropriate, for example for those who
have anxiety about school attendance.
- Work jointly with other services including your local council and health services.
- For pupils with a long-term medical condition – either physical or mental – schools
are also expected to make attendance support a key feature of any individual
healthcare plan.
- For pupils with Education, Health and Care plans - ensure access to any provision
outlined within the plan.

To make this work, it is important that you are open and work with your child’s school by
sharing written information. This will help agree the right support and take an active part
in agreeing and putting in place the solution.

In most cases this will be sufficient, but no child should be out of school without
appropriate education for more than 15 school days over a school year. Where additional
support is needed, your local council is responsible for arranging alternative suitable full-
time (or close to) education for your child.
If your child has an Education, Health and Care plan, and is out of school for more than
15 days, we expect the school to inform the local council who is responsible for your

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child's plan. This is to ensure that they are aware of the situation and to seek their
support for your child where necessary.

Where can I get help if my child is too anxious to go to school?

Attending school usually helps to protect your child’s mental health, for a range of
reasons including giving them a chance to be with friends and to benefit from learning.
However, some children can be anxious or worried about going to school, particularly
around the start of the new year or joining a new school or class. This is a normal
emotion, and not necessarily indicative of an underlying mental health condition.

If their anxiety continues and becomes an attendance issue, you should speak to your
child's school together with your child about why they are anxious and what can be done.

You can find some useful advice at Young Minds, to help work through likely reasons
together with your child, what to do and how to make sure that you get the right support if
there are more serious issues.

Getting help when support hasn’t been provided, or hasn’t

worked

Support isn’t working because my child’s current school place is not

suitable for their needs. What can I do?
Your first step is to discuss it with your child’s school to see if extra support can be given.
If you are still having problems you can apply for a place at a different school or schools.
Your local council will be able to provide details on how to apply.

It is important that you don’t take your child out of their current school in the meantime –
your application for another school may not be successful, for example, if it is full for that
particular year group.

If your child has an Education, Health and Care plan then it is helpful to discuss the best
way forward with both your school and your local council’s SEND team.

What action you can take if your child’s current school place is not
suitable for their needs?
If you have applied for a place at a school and it does not offer your child a place, you
have the right to appeal this decision Advice for parents and guardians on school
admission appeals – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Mainstream education isn’t working for my child. Can I get help with an
alternative provision?
Your first step is to discuss it with your child’s school to see if extra support can be given.

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If you are still having problems you should discuss them with your local council. In many
cases additional support can be provided to help a child remain in mainstream school. In
a small number of cases where a child would not receive a suitable, full-time education
without alternative provision, your local council is responsible for putting that in place.

Where can I find help if my child’s school or the local council have not
delivered what they are expected to?
Your first step is to discuss it with school. Most issues can be resolved this way.
You can also contact your local council’s school attendance support team.
Your local Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support
Service (SENDIASS) will be able to offer advice and support
If these steps don’t succeed, you can make a formal complaint to the school or local
council following their complaints procedure. All schools must have one and details can
usually be found on the school website.
If you believe that the school did not handle your complaint correctly there are different
processes of how to complain depending on your child’s circumstances. If you do not
believe your local council handled your complaint correctly you can make a complaint to
the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) at www.lgo.org.uk once
you have completed the councils complaint process.

Can my child’s school force me to remove my child from school and

home educate?
If your school has asked or is putting pressure on you to remove your child from school to
home educate, this is known as off-rolling.

Off-rolling is the practice of removing a pupil from the school roll without using a
permanent exclusion, when the removal is primarily in the best interests of the school,
rather than the best interests of the pupil. This includes pressuring a parent to remove
their child from the school. While it may not always be unlawful, Ofsted and the
Department believe that off-rolling is never acceptable.

Elective Home Education should always be a positive choice taken by parents without
pressure from their school.

If you believe your child has been removed from the school site and formal
suspension/permanent exclusion procedures have not been followed, you should
approach the headteacher in the first instance to discuss the matter. If you are not
satisfied, you can take up the issue with the governing board and in the case of a
maintained school, to the local authority, or in the case of an academy, the trust. If you
remain dissatisfied, you are able to write to the Department. You may also wish to
consult the Coram Children’s Legal Centre.

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Formal and legal action where voluntary support hasn’t
worked or isn’t taken up

Will my local council take legal action against me?

If your child is absent from school without permission or a valid reason, you are likely to
be breaking the law. Where this happens, your child’s school or your local council will
speak to you to understand the reasons. If your child hasn’t attended because they are
struggling to, both your child’s school and your local council are expected to put the right
support in place to help you.
If you do not take part in that support, or it doesn’t work because more structured formal
support is needed, then your child’s school or your local council may:
- Invite you to agree to a parenting contract. This is not a punishment or a criticism
of your parenting. It is a more formal action plan that sets out what you will do to
improve your child’s attendance and what your child’s school and/or your local
council will do to support this.
- Apply to the family court for an education supervision order to ensure you and
your child receive advice, assistance and direction to make sure they receive a
suitable full-time education.

If you do not make any efforts to improve your child’s attendance or it is clear you have
knowingly allowed your child to be absent without good reason – for example, taking your
child on holiday in school time without permission – your local council may prosecute you
to protect your child’s right to a full-time education. Even during this process, you have
the opportunity to accept and engage in voluntary support (such as an early help
assessment) or formal support (such as a parenting contract or education supervision
order) to prevent the case from going to court. If found guilty you may be given a
parenting order, community order, a fine of up to £2,500 or in very exceptional
circumstances a sentence of up to 3 months in prison.

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Glossary
Attendance action plan – an informal agreement between you, your child if they are
old enough to understand, their school and sometimes your local council about what
actions supporting your child will take to improve their attendance.

Community order – an order that can be made by a Court after you have been found
guilty of knowingly failing to secure your child’s regular attendance rather than sending
you to prison. This may include requirements for you to take part in certain activities or
observe certain rules.

Early help assessment – a voluntary assessment of what you and your family need
help with to allow your child’s school and/or your local council to put the right support in
place or help you access the right services.

Education supervision order – an order that can be made by the Family Court to
require a local council to advise, assist, and direct you and your child so that they receive
suitable full-time education. This is not a criminal conviction, but persistently breaching
the council’s directions can lead to prosecution.

Leave of absence – permission given by your child’s school for them to be absent
from school for a specified period of time. You should write to the head teacher and ask
for a leave of absence before the time your child needs to be absent from school. They
will only be agreed to in exceptional circumstances.

Parenting contract – a formal signed agreement between you, and your child’s
school and/or your local council agreeing what actions you will take to improve your
child’s attendance and what the school/council will do to support you in this.

Parenting order – an order that can be made by a Court after you have been found
guilty of failing to secure your child’s regular attendance. You will be required to take part
in certain activities or observe certain rules.

Reasonable adjustment – a change made by your child’s school to remove or

change something that is preventing your child from attending school.

Regular attendance – attending school every day that the school is open in line with
the school rules apart from in a small number of allowable circumstances.

School attendance support team – the team in your local council who can help
you with your child’s attendance.

Special educational need (SEN) – Children and young people with SEN all have
learning difficulties or disabilities that make it harder for them to learn than most children
and young people of the same age. These children and young people may need extra or
different help from that given to others.