School Attendance Register and Absence Policy

This policy applies to [school name], a maintained or academy primary or secondary school in England. It does not apply to a school where all pupils are boarders. Where a provision below depends on the school being required to follow regulation 11, the relevant condition is stated.

Attendance register

The school will take the attendance register at the beginning of each morning session and once during each afternoon session, normally at the start of the session. The register will be taken at the same time for all pupils registered at the school.

The morning session begins at [published school start time]. Earlier voluntary provision, such as a breakfast club, does not form part of that session. The afternoon register will be taken at [afternoon register time].

The register will remain open for [register open period]. This period will be the same for every session and will not be longer than 30 minutes.

Recording attendance and absence

Each time the register is taken, the school will enter the appropriate national attendance or absence code for every pupil whose name is listed in the admission register at that time, including pupils of compulsory and non-compulsory school age. This coding requirement does not apply to a pupil who is a boarder.

A pupil must not be recorded as present if they were not in school when registration was taken. If a pupil arrives after the register has opened but before it closes, the school will use the applicable late-arrival code. The school will actively discourage late arrival and remain alert to patterns of late arrival.

If a pupil is recorded with code N but arrives later in the session after the register has closed, the attendance register will be amended to record the pupil as absent using code U or another absence code that is more appropriate.

Remote education

Where a pupil receives remote education, the school will keep a record of and monitor the pupil’s engagement with that education. Engagement with remote education will not be treated as a formally tracked attendance-register entry.

Illness absence

The school will record illness, including physical and mental-health-related illness, using the illness code. Parents should notify the school on the first day that their child is unable to attend because of illness.

Where illness absence is long-term or recurring, the school will work with the family and other agencies to identify barriers to attendance and put support in place to address them.

Medical and dental appointments

Parents should arrange medical and dental appointments outside school hours where possible. Where this is not possible, they should obtain the school’s agreement in advance, and the pupil should be absent for only the minimum time necessary for the appointment.

Where the school is required to follow regulation 11, leave for a medical or dental appointment may be granted only where an application is made in advance by the parent with whom the pupil normally lives, or by the pupil where applicable, and the school is satisfied that the individual facts of the case establish exceptional circumstances justifying the leave.

Where the school is not required to follow regulation 11, the school will still use Code M to record leave of absence granted for a medical or dental appointment.

If a pupil is present at registration but then leaves the school to attend a medical or dental appointment during that session, no absence will be recorded for that session.

Religious observance

The school will use the religious-observance absence code only where the day is exclusively set apart for religious observance by the religious body to which the parent belongs.

If a religious body sets apart a single day for religious observance and a parent applies for more than one day, the school will record only the qualifying day using the religious-observance code. Any additional requested time will be considered as leave of absence under the school’s exceptional-leave arrangements.

Responsibilities

The person taking each register is responsible for recording the appropriate attendance or absence code at the time of registration and for ensuring that late arrivals are dealt with in accordance with this policy.

The school will maintain attendance-register records, including amendments, and will keep records of remote-education engagement separately from the attendance register.