School Register Deletion Safeguards Procedure

1. Scope and application

Use this procedure when deletion of a pupil’s name from the admission register is being considered under a return-after-leave ground, the 20-day continuous-absence ground, or a ground concerning compulsory school age or transfer to sixth form. It applies to maintained and academy schools in England.

Do not use this procedure to bypass reasonable attendance support, attendance enforcement or safeguarding action. The decision-maker must assess whether the circumstances allow deletion under the relevant ground before any deletion proceeds.

2. Return-after-leave and 20-day continuous-absence grounds

Before proceeding under a return-after-leave or 20-day continuous-absence ground, assess whether the pupil could reasonably be supported to return to school. This restriction applies whether or not that support has already been provided.

Do not proceed under either ground if the pupil is absent because of a health reason.

Also assess whether attendance legal action could reasonably be taken to cause the pupil to return to school. Where that action could reasonably be taken, use the appropriate support or enforcement instead of deleting the pupil’s name from the admission register.

3. Local-authority discussion and case evidence

Discuss the proposed deletion and the circumstances of the absence with the local authority through [local authority contact] before making the decision.

Keep a case record containing the assessment of available support and enforcement options, relevant health-related absence information, the discussions and decisions with the local authority, and the reasons for the decision.

4. Compulsory school age and sixth-form grounds

For a pupil approaching the end of compulsory school age, establish the pupil’s age and the relevant school-calendar date. A pupil ceases to be of compulsory school age on the last Friday in June of the school year in which the pupil reaches the age of 16.

Where the pupil will be over compulsory school age by the time the school next meets, consider whether either of the following applies: the school has no reasonable grounds to believe that the pupil will attend the school again; or the pupil does not meet the academic entry requirements to be transferred to the school’s sixth form.

Record the pupil’s age, the relevant school-calendar date, the intended progression or sixth-form position, the academic entry assessment where relevant, and the decision.

5. Decision and admission-register record

Do not delete the pupil’s name unless the relevant ground has been assessed and the applicable safeguards in this procedure have been addressed.

Record the decision and the deletion in the admission register in accordance with the school’s register-recording arrangements at [school register recording location].

6. Decision record

The decision record must identify the ground considered, the information relied on, the support and enforcement assessment, any health-related circumstances, the local-authority discussion, the decision and the date of the admission-register entry.