ISL ATTENDANCE TEAM – INFORMATION FOR ACADEMIES
This leaflet outlines the key statutory responsibilities of academies, free schools and UTCs relating to school attendance.
Key statutory requirements
- Academies must take the attendance register twice a day: at the start of each morning and once during the afternoon.
- Academies may only lawfully delete pupils from the admission register on the grounds prescribed in regulation 8 of the Education (Pupil Registration)(England) Regulations 2006 (as amended by the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2016). Removal from Roll Guidance is available at -
- Academies may not remove a child from the attendance register until he/she has been deleted from the admission register.
- Every entry in the admission register and attendance register must be preserved for a period of three years after the date on which the entry was made.
- Academies must inform their local authority of any pupil who is going to be deleted from the admission register in accordance with regulation 12(6) of the Education (Pupil Registration) (England)Regulations 2006 using the appropriate Removal from Roll form. Academies must not encourage parents to electively home educate their child to avoid exclusion or because of poor attendance. Exclusions guidance is available at -
- Academies are responsible for the attendance of pupils on their roll and must follow up on all instances of non-attendance and take reasonable steps to address this. If a pupil has irregular attendance or is absent continuously without authorisation for ten school days, academies must notify their local ISL Attendance Team -
- The academy admission register and the attendance register must be made available on request for inspection during school hours by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education Children’s Services. An Attendance Improvement Officer/Attendance Manager on behalf of Hertfordshire County Council may request to see these records andmust be permitted to make extracts from the registers for the purposes of their functions under the Education Acts.
Frequently asked questions
Q: What support can I expect now the ISL Attendance teams are no longer offering a traded service to academies?
A: From September 2017 all Hertfordshire maintained schools, regardless of governance, will have a named link Attendance Improvement Officer. Their primary responsibility will be to support schools to reduce persistent absence, to undertake statutory casework and to ensure that schools fulfil their responsibilities in respect of pupil attendance. All schools will receive a service based on persistent absence data for the previous autumn and spring terms and will be notified of this at the start of the new academic year.
Q. Can academies issue penalty notices for non-school attendance?
A. Academies and local authorities may issue penalty notices to parents who fail to ensure their child’s regular attendance as long as they comply with the local authority’s published code of conduct. To ensure that all penalty notices are issued in accordance with the code of conduct, academies are encouraged to apply to the local ISL Attendance Manager who will issue a penalty notice on their behalf, without charge. Further information is available at -
Q. Can academies prosecute parents for poor attendance?
A. The power to prosecute parents remains solely with local authorities. In the case of regular or persistent absence without permission, the academy must refer the case to the local authority which will consider prosecution
Q: What is the local authority’s role for addressing poor attendance?
A: Local authorities have a responsibility to make sure parents are fulfilling their legal duty to ensure their child receives a suitable education which includes full time education, and under the Education Act 1996 have the right to take legal action to enforce a child’s regular attendance at school. In Hertfordshire this duty is exercised through the ISL Attendance Team.Only local authorities can make decisions on whether parents should be prosecuted for school attendance offences.
Q: Can local authorities charge academies for prosecuting parents?
A: If a child of compulsory school age fails to attend regularly at a school at which they are registered or at a place where alternative provision is provided for them the parents may be guilty of an offence and can be prosecuted by the local authority. At present only local authorities can prosecute parents and they must fund all associated costs.
Q: Can academies place a pupil on a temporary reduced timetable?
A: All pupils of compulsory school age are entitled to asuitable education, which includes full time education. In exceptional circumstances there may be a need for a temporary part-time timetable to meet a pupil’s individual needs for reasons that relate to the child’s physical or mental health and where it would not be in their best interests to attend full time. Advice from the DfE November 2014states that any agreement must have a time limit by which the pupil is expected to attend full time or be provided with alternative provision. Pupils on part-time timetables should be recorded as C (authorised absence) for the period they are not in school. All schools are asked to return information on children who are on part-time timetables within five days of the pupil starting or ending a part-time timetable. Further information is available at
Q. Can an academy refuse to authorise an absence without medical evidence?
A. Advice from the DfE states that absences due to illness should be authorised unless there is a genuine cause for concern about the legitimacy of an illness. Academies can record the absence as unauthorised if not satisfied of the authenticity of the illness but should advise parents of their intention. Academies should not routinely demand medical evidence to authorise absence on the grounds of ill health.
East Attendance Team covering – East Herts & Broxbourne, North Herts & Stevenage, Welwyn & Hatfield
West Attendance Team covering – Watford & Three Rivers, St Albans & Dacorum, Hertsmere
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