Electronic admission register and first attendance procedure

1. Applicability

This procedure applies to maintained and academy primary and secondary schools in England that register pupils. The first-attendance and invalid-registration controls apply when a new pupil is admitted or when a registration may not have been validly made.

2. Admission register

The school must keep an admission register, also known as the school roll, in accordance with the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024.

The names of all pupils, including pupils of compulsory and non-compulsory school age, must be entered on the admission register.

The admission register must be kept electronically.

3. Entering a pupil when a first attendance date is agreed

Where the school and a person with control of the pupil’s attendance have agreed that the pupil will attend on a particular day, enter the pupil’s name on the admission register on that day.

The entry must be made before, or at the beginning of, the first session on that day.

4. Entering a pupil where no date is agreed or notified

Where no first attendance date has been agreed or notified, enter the pupil’s name on the admission register on the first day the pupil attends the school.

The entry must be made before, or at the beginning of, the first session on the day the pupil first attends.

5. Invalid registration

If a pupil’s name was added to the admission register without the relevant agreement or notification from the person with control of the pupil’s attendance, and the pupil has never attended the school, treat the entry as an invalid registration.

Delete the invalid registration as soon as possible, in line with regulation 6 of the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024.

6. Operating rule

For each new pupil, determine whether a first attendance date has been agreed or notified. Apply the corresponding entry rule in this procedure and ensure that the admission register remains electronic and includes all pupils registered by the school.