Attendance and the Law

This section of the staff attendance guide tells you everything you need to know about attendance and the law. It includes:

Information on statutory school ages
Links to each local authority attendance information guides
Information on the Education Regulations Act 2006 (the attendance register and roll)
What the law says about when you can remove a pupil from the school roll.
The law around fixed penalty notices and fines.

Simply click on the links above or down the left hand side menu to visit each of the pages.

NOTE: The DfE published a new White Paper in April 2022 which signalled their intent to update the Education Regulations Act 2006 and to standardise the legal action that can be taken to enforce school attendance. However, in early December 2022 the bill was formally scrapped as there was no time for it to be discussed in parliament. You can find a link to the full White Paper below as well as a link to the Attendance Consultation which was the precursor to the elements of the White Paper linked to attendance. There is also a link to an article by Schools Week which talks about the potential next steps.

Opportunity for All - DfE White Paper

DfE School Attendance Consultation Document Jan/Feb 2022

Schools Week Article