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iFairy working template · Policy

School attendance policy

Required by law or statutory guidanceEnglandPrimary, Secondary, Special, All-throughFor: Headteachers, Senior attendance champions, Attendance officers, Governors and trustees

A working attendance policy that covers every item Working together to improve school attendance (August 2024) says the policy must set out as a minimum, plus registers, leave of absence, persistent and severe absence, penalty notices and returns to the local authority.

iFairy working template — not official guidance. Built by reading the official documents listed under "Based on"; each requirement cites the document and section it comes from. Check the current official wording before you adopt it, and adapt it to your setting and your local authority or trust procedures.

Do you need one?Working together to improve school attendance is statutory guidance: schools, trusts and governing bodies must have regard to it (para 1). It says all schools are 'expected' to have a clear, written attendance policy with the minimum contents in para 26, and trusts and governing bodies must ensure their schools have one (para 77). Keeping admission and attendance registers, using the national codes, register retention, restricting leave of absence (maintained and non-maintained special schools) and making returns to the local authority are legal duties under the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024.
Why this templateThe statutory attendance guidance is 146 pages long and mixes expectations of schools, trusts, local authorities and parents. Paragraph 26 lists the minimum contents of a school attendance policy, but the detail a policy needs (register closing time, leave of absence rules, penalty notice threshold, local authority returns) is spread across chapters 2, 6, 7 and 8. This template gathers it in policy order, with model wording to adapt.
ReviewReview at least annually and whenever the guidance, the local authority's Local Code of Conduct for penalty notices or your school day changes. Seek pupils' and parents' views when you review (para 30).
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Who to contact and who is responsible

Name the Senior Attendance Champion and the day-to-day and more detailed contacts, and set out what governors and staff do.

Must include

Decide and write down

  • Is the Senior Attendance Champion on the senior leadership team, with time to do the role?
  • Will the board have a named governor or trustee for attendance (para 74 says boards may wish to)?
  • How often will governors receive attendance data, and in what format?

Starter wording (edit the highlighted parts)

Senior Attendance Champion: [name, role], [email], [phone]. Day-to-day attendance queries (reporting absence, lateness): [attendance officer name], [phone line and opening time], [email]. More detailed support: [head of year / pastoral lead / family liaison officer], [contact]. Governor/trustee with responsibility for attendance: [name]. The governing board [or trust board] reviews attendance data at least [termly], compares it with local and national figures, and holds leaders to account for this policy.

Expectations of pupils and parents: the school day and reporting absence

Set out the start and close of the day, when the register closes, and how to tell the school about an unexpected absence.

Must include

Decide and write down

  • What are your exact gate-open, start, register-close and end times for morning and afternoon sessions?
  • How should parents report absence (phone line, app, email) and by what time?
  • When, in your school, would you ask for medical evidence, and what forms will you accept?

Starter wording (edit the highlighted parts)

The school gates open at [08:40]. Registration starts at [08:50] and the morning register closes at [09:20]. The afternoon register is taken at [13:15] and closes at [13:45]. Pupils arriving after the register has opened but before it closes are marked late (code L). Pupils arriving after the register closes are recorded as absent for that session (code U, an unauthorised absence) unless another code applies. If your child cannot attend, please contact [attendance line / app] by [09:00] on each day of absence, giving the reason and when you expect them back. We do not usually ask for medical evidence for illness; we will talk to you if we need more information. Please book medical and dental appointments outside the school day wherever possible. If that is not possible, ask [attendance officer] in advance; your child should be out of school only for as long as the appointment needs.

Leave of absence and term-time holidays

Explain how to request leave, the only circumstances in which it can be granted, and how part-time timetables are agreed.

Must include

Decide and write down

  • Who decides leave requests, how quickly, and how will the decision be recorded and communicated?
  • What examples of 'exceptional circumstances' will you give parents, so decisions are consistent?
  • Who signs off part-time timetables and who tracks review and end dates?

Starter wording (edit the highlighted parts)

Leave of absence during term time can only be granted in the circumstances set out in the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024. Requests must be made in advance by a parent the pupil normally lives with, using [form / app], at least [4 weeks] before the leave. The headteacher [or named deputy] considers each request individually and replies in writing within [10 school days]. If leave is granted, the school decides how long it lasts. Leave for holidays will not normally be granted. Leave taken without permission is recorded as unauthorised and may lead to a Notice to Improve or penalty notice (see 'Support first, then formal action').

How we follow up absence day to day

Describe first-day calling, follow-up of unexplained absence, and contact with other professionals.

Must include

Decide and write down

  • Who makes first-day calls, by what time, and what happens if no one can be reached (second contact, home visit, DSL referral)?
  • At what point does continued unexplained absence trigger a safeguarding response?
  • How will staff know which pupils have a social worker or youth offending team worker?

Starter wording (edit the highlighted parts)

By [09:45] each day, [attendance officer] contacts the parents of every pupil absent without a reason. If we cannot make contact we try all emergency contacts and, by [day 2/3], we may make a home visit and inform the designated safeguarding lead. For pupils with a social worker or youth offending team worker, we tell that worker about any unexplained absence the same day. Unexplained absences are given the correct code as soon as we know the reason and no later than 5 working days after the session. Register amendments are made only by [named roles] and are recorded in [MIS].

Keeping families informed and promoting good attendance

Explain how the school promotes and recognises attendance and how parents will hear about their child's attendance.

Must include

Decide and write down

  • How often will parents get attendance updates, and through which channel?
  • How will recognition schemes avoid penalising pupils with disabilities, long-term illness or caring responsibilities?
  • What are your trigger points for a letter, a call and a meeting? The toolkit suggests being transparent about them.

Starter wording (edit the highlighted parts)

We send every family an attendance update [each half term], showing days and lessons missed rather than a percentage. If a pattern of absence starts, [form tutor] will contact you early, usually by phone. We celebrate good and improving attendance through [assemblies / class recognition], taking care that no child is disadvantaged because of a disability, health condition or other circumstance outside their control.

How we use attendance data

Set out the school's strategy for using data to target support to the pupils and cohorts who need it most.

Must include

Decide and write down

  • Which cohorts will you track? Para 46 suggests e.g. year groups, SEND, pupils with a social worker or looked after, free school meals, and groups with historically lower attendance.
  • Who produces the weekly report and who acts on it?

Starter wording (edit the highlighted parts)

Every week [attendance officer] reports attendance and punctuality by pupil, class/form, year group and the cohorts we track: [list]. Pupils whose attendance is falling are discussed at [weekly pastoral meeting], not only those already persistently absent. Each half term [Senior Attendance Champion] analyses patterns by code, day and cohort, compares them with local and national figures, and reports to the governing board.

Support first: persistent and severe absence

Explain how support intensifies as absence rises, and when it is formalised with the local authority.

Must include

Decide and write down

  • Who is your named contact in the local authority School Attendance Support Team, and when are your Targeting Support Meetings?
  • What support can you offer in school (mentoring, adjusted routines, transport help) before referring out?
  • At what point will you consider an attendance contract or early help assessment?

Starter wording (edit the highlighted parts)

When a pupil's attendance starts to fall, [form tutor] contacts the family. If it falls towards 90% or below, [pastoral lead] meets the pupil and parents to understand the barriers and agree an action plan, reviewed every [4 weeks]. Where barriers are outside school we help the family access support, including an early help assessment where appropriate. Where support is not engaged with, [Senior Attendance Champion] holds a formal meeting and explains the possible legal consequences. Pupils who are severely absent (attending half the time or less) are discussed with the local authority at our Targeting Support Meetings and a joint plan is agreed.

Pupils with SEND, health needs or a social worker

Show how the same ambition applies with additional support and adjustments.

Must include

Decide and write down

  • How do the SENCO, DSL and designated teacher feed into attendance planning?
  • Which adjustments (uniform, transport, start times, lunchtime) can you offer, and who approves them?

Starter wording (edit the highlighted parts)

We hold the same high expectations for every pupil and recognise that some need extra help to attend. For pupils with SEND or a health condition, [SENCO / pastoral lead] works with the family to agree adjustments, reviewed at least [each half term]. Where a pupil has an EHC plan we tell the local authority if attendance falls. Where a pupil is likely to miss 15 or more school days through illness, we make a sickness return to the local authority so that education can continue.

Information we share with the local authority and children missing education

Record the statutory returns and what happens when a pupil may be missing education.

Must include

Decide and write down

  • Who in school makes each return, and how (automated from the MIS or manual)?
  • Who is your local authority's named CME contact and where is its referral form?

Starter wording (edit the highlighted parts)

[Data manager] makes New Pupil and Deletion returns to [local authority] and the attendance returns at the frequency the local authority sets. We remove a pupil from the admission register only on the grounds in regulation 9 of the 2024 Regulations. If a pupil is absent and we cannot establish where they are, we make reasonable enquiries ourselves, then work with [local authority]'s children missing education team ([contact]) and refer promptly.

Publishing and reviewing this policy

Make sure everyone can find the policy and that it stays current.

Must include

Decide and write down

  • How will you gather pupil and parent views before the next review (survey, parent forum, school council)?

Starter wording (edit the highlighted parts)

This policy was approved by [governing board / trust board] on [date] and will be reviewed by [date]. It is published at [web address] and shared with every family when their child joins and at the start of each school year. Accessible or translated versions are available from [contact].

Checklist

Watch out

  • The sources date from August 2024 (attendance guidance and summary table) and September 2025 (children missing education). As of 4 October 2026, check GOV.UK for a newer edition of Working together to improve school attendance and for any changes to registration or children-not-in-school duties from later legislation before adopting this policy.
  • Penalty notice amounts (£160/£80) and the 10-sessions-in-10-weeks threshold come from the 2024 regulations and National Framework; check they are still current and read your local authority's Local Code of Conduct, which can differ in detail.
  • Do not invent attendance codes or old code letters: the 2024 Regulations introduced a revised set of codes (e.g. C1, C2, J1, K). Use the code list in chapter 8 of the current guidance.
  • A common pitfall is a 'blanket' penalty notice policy (always issue or never issue). The guidance says each case at the threshold must be considered individually (para 181).
  • Deleting a pupil from roll for any reason outside regulation 9 (e.g. a parent's verbal 'we're moving abroad' without the grounds being met) risks off-rolling; follow chapter 7 and the children missing education guidance.
  • The summary table refers to Ofsted's 'behaviour and attitudes judgement'. Ofsted's inspection framework has changed since August 2024, so check the current Ofsted wording before quoting it to governors.

Based on these official documents

Main source

Working Together to Improve School Attendance — 2024

Required policy contents (para 26), registers, leave of absence, day-to-day processes, data, SEND and health, governance, penalty notice framework and local authority returns.

Supporting source

Working Together to Improve School Attendance — 2024 summary table responsibilities august

Who does what at each level of absence (parents, school, governors, local authority), used for the roles and escalation sections.

Supporting source

Attendance: toolkit for communicating with families

How to communicate attendance to parents: lessons missed rather than percentages, named contacts, choosing the channel.

Supporting source

Children Missing Education — summary responsibilities cme guidance 2025

School expectations for pupils at risk of becoming children missing education: enquiries, referral to the home local authority's CME team.

Supporting source

Children Missing Education — cme policy procedures checklist

What the local authority should give schools (named CME contact, referral process), so the policy can point to it.