School attendance legislation
Parent's responsibility
If your child is between the ages of five and 16 you are legally responsible for making sure they get a suitable full-time education either by regular attendance at school or otherwise (s.7 Education Act 1996).
This means you can either register your child at a school, or you may choose to electively home educate your child where you take full responsibility for your child's education. Find out more about home education.
If you register your child at a school, you have a responsibility to ensure they attend regularly, every day that the school is open.
Why regular attendance is important
There's a clear link between levels of school attendance and student achievement. Good school attendance gives your child the opportunity for success and helps develop skills for life. Missing school damages a pupil's learning and their grades, disrupts routines and can make pupils vulnerable to crime.
Good school attendance is one of the main factors in determining your child's future and opportunities in life.
Authorised and unauthorised absence
Any absences will be recorded with a specific code depending on the type of absence. Absences fall into two categories, authorised and unauthorised.
Authorised absences are those where school has agreed the absence in advance, or have accepted the reason for the absence provided by the parent. There are only a small number of circumstances where missing a school day is permitted:
- your child is too ill to attend
- you have asked in advance and been given permission by the school for your child to be absent on a specific day due to exceptional circumstances
- your child cannot go to school on a specific day because they are observing a religious event (as defined by the Department for Education)
- your local authority is responsible for arranging your child's transport to school and it is not available or has not been provided yet
- your child does not have a permanent address and you are required to travel for work. There are restrictions on the number of times this can be applied
These are the only circumstances where schools can permit your child to be absent and it is the Head Teachers decision whether they can authorise the absence or not.
Unauthorised absence are those absences which the school will not authorise, such as family holiday, days off for trips, non-urgent medical treatment, not wanting to attend, parental or sibling illness, late arrival (more than 30 minutes after the school day has started).
Poor attendance
Children are expected to attend school every day and many schools acknowledge 100% attendance with certificates and/or rewards.
However, if attendance drops to 90% or lower the government classify the child as having persistent absence (PA) and if attendance is 50% or less the child is classified as severely absence (SA) because these levels of attendance are of particular concern.
As part of their general duty to safeguard pupils, schools must monitor pupil's attendance. Schools will work with you to improve your child's attendance offering support and advice and it's important you attend meetings to discuss how to resolve any issues. Ultimately, where appropriate, schools may decide to refer to the local authority for formal action.
Formal and legal action
If your child is absent from school without a good reason, and their attendance fails to improve, the school will make a referral to the Local Authority to consider formal action, which could result in a penalty notice or prosecution in Magistrates court.
Legal action is considered where:
- your child continues to miss school
- you do not cooperate with getting your child to go to school
- school support and guidance does not result in an improvement in attendance
- intervention from other services does not support an improvement in attendance
If you fail to ensure your child attends school regularly, the Local Authority has a statutory duty to consider legal action to enforce school attendance (sec 444 Education Act).
This could mean a penalty notice being issued against you, or you being prosecuted in the Magistrates' Court.
Penalty notice
The National Framework for penalty notices came into effect 19 August 2024:
- the new threshold for penalty notices is 10 unauthorised sessions, within a rolling 10 school week
- the cost of the fine is £160 if paid within 28 days, reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days
- escalation in cases of repeat offences: any second penalty notice issued to the same parent for the same child within a rolling 3 year period, will be charged at the higher rate of £160 with no option for this second offence to be discharged at the lower rate of £80
- limited number of penalty notices per parent: a national limit of 2 penalty notices can be issued to a parent for the same child within a rolling 3-year period. At the 3rd (or subsequent) offence(s) another tool, such as prosecution, will be considered
Fines are issued by the council on behalf of schools and you have up to 28 days from receipt to pay the penalty notice in full. If payment is not received within this time, the Local Authority will begin proceedings in the Magistrates' Court for the original offence of failing to ensure your child's regular school attendance.
Prosecution in Magistrates Court
Local Authorities have the power to prosecute parents for failing to ensure their children's regular attendance at school (s.444 Education Act 1996).
If proven, this can result in fines of up to £2,500 and/or a range of measures such as Parenting Orders, Community Sentences and imprisonment. Being found guilty of the offence means the parent will have a criminal record.
Unauthorised leave of absence
Head Teachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances, and they can determine the number of days a child can be absent if the leave is granted.
Each application should be considered on an individual basis, taking into account the specific circumstances.
DfE guidance states:
Generally, a need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation would not constitute an exceptional circumstance.
If you take an unauthorised leave of absence, the school may request the Local Authority issue a Penalty Notice against you. Each parent will be issued with a penalty notice for each child.
Who to contact
If you have any concerns about your child's attendance, it is important that you contact and work with the school to resolve any issues.
If you would like further information about the formal process and possible outcomes, please contact the Legal Intervention Team:
Education Support Service
Legal Intervention Team
Civic Centre
Floor 2
Gateshead
NE8 1HH
EnquiriesLIT@gateshead.gov.uk
Downloads
Gateshead Council - Penalty Notice Code of Conduct (PDF, 62 KB)(opens new window)