School Admission Register Entry and Failure-to-Start Procedure
- Version
- v1
- Updated
- 1 October 2026
Fields in brackets are completed when you adapt this template.
This procedure applies to [school name], where the school is a maintained or academy primary or secondary school in England admitting pupils.
1. Establish whether the place and starting day have been agreed
An offer of a place is not, by itself, an agreement. Before a pupil is registered, the parent or, in the case of admission to sixth form, the prospective pupil must have accepted the offer.
Acceptance may be shown by the school and a person with control of the pupil’s attendance agreeing the starting day in advance, or by the pupil attending the school on that day. In the normal admissions round, or where a local authority coordinates in-year applications, the local authority may communicate that agreement to the school on behalf of the parent.
2. Enter the pupil on the admission register
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 first agreed day.
Where no starting day has been agreed or notified, enter the pupil’s name on the admission register on the first day the pupil attends. The name must be entered before or at the beginning of the first session on that day.
3. Where the pupil does not attend on the agreed starting day
If a pupil fails to attend on the agreed starting day, the school must follow up the non-attendance and try to establish the reason for the absence.
The follow-up should relate to the agreed starting day recorded for [pupil name] and the circumstances known to the school at that time.
4. Applying the procedure
Do not treat an unaccepted offer as an agreement to register the pupil. Apply the admission-register entry rule only when the offer has been accepted through an agreed starting day or through the pupil attending on that day.
Where no date has been agreed or notified, use the pupil’s first day of attendance as the entry date and complete the entry before or at the beginning of the first session.
Sources
- Working together to improve school attendance: July 2026Department for Education (DfE)