Government seeks views on attendance in school in England

2 mins read

Friday 11 February 2022

The government department responsible for education in England is seeking views on school attendance.

Unfortunately, the consultation doesn’t look at attendance with disabled children in mind. This is your opportunity to say it must do.

Our helpline has seen an increase in the number of calls and emails about attendance issues, many related to Covid and anxiety caused by prolonged periods in lockdown. In January 2022, attendance was the second-most common enquiry to our education specialist team on our helpline.

What does the consultation cover?

The consultation is based on existing good practice of schools, academy trusts and local authorities in managing school attendance.

The consultation is seeking views on the following possible measures:

  • Requiring schools to have an attendance policy, and have regard to statutory guidance on the expectations of schools, academy trusts and governing bodies of maintained schools.
  • Guidance on the expectations of local authority attendance services.
  • A national framework for attendance legal intervention.
  • Bringing the rules for granting leaves of absence in academies in line with other state-funded schools.

How to respond

Take part in the online consultation survey.

You don’t need to answer all the questions.

If you are unable to use the online system, you can email your views to attendance.consultation@education.gov.uk

Read the consultation document in full.

The consultation closes on 28 February 2022 at 11.45pm.

Other school consultations

The government is also consulting on:

Behaviour guidance and exclusions guidance, which closes on 31 March 2022

School Admission Appeals Code, which closes on 3 April 2022.

We have lots of advice on our website on admission, exclusions and behaviour support