Since and accompanying came into force, schools have been getting up to speed with understanding their new responsibilities. (We鈥檝e covered these in detail in this series of articles and webinar).
The Department for Education (DfE) states that 鈥Improving attendance is everyone鈥檚 business鈥, with schools and local authorities having distinct roles within the attendance statutory framework.
A cause of confusion
One area where we have seen a great deal of confusion is around the timing of adding a pupil to the school鈥檚 admissions register, particularly in the context of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).
Once a pupil is added to the school roll, the school has responsibility for that pupil鈥檚 education, safety and welfare and must take steps to support attendance as set out in the DfE鈥檚 attendance guidance.
This is why it is vital that schools know exactly when a pupil must be added to their admissions register and understand the interrelationship with the local authority鈥檚 duty, in respect of children鈥檚 attendance in their area.
What do the Attendance Regulations say?
Regulation 8(1) of the Attendance Regulations states that 鈥The proprietor of a school must ensure that the name of each pupil at the school is entered in the school鈥檚 admission register on the pupil鈥檚 starting day, before or at the beginning of the first school session on that day鈥.
The definition of 鈥渟tarting day鈥 is set out in Regulation 3 which, in summary, says:
- If a pupil is being admitted by agreement between the school and the person 鈥with control of the pupil鈥檚 attendance鈥 then a day they agree or the first day the pupil attends the school.
- If a school has a duty to admit a pupil, then a day that the person 鈥with control of the pupil鈥檚 attendance鈥 has told the school they will attend or the first day the pupil attends.
Who is a 鈥榩erson with control of the pupil鈥檚 attendance鈥?
The Regulations clarify that this is either:
- A parent.
- The pupil (if over compulsory school age by the time they start attending).
- Any other person with authority to require the pupil to attend school.
In most cases the person with control will be a parent, or a pupil joining a sixth form. There will be some very limited instances where it鈥檚 someone else, for example, another school who has control of a pupil鈥檚 attendance and effectively tells another school that the pupil will attend there, i.e. in the case of an off-site direction whereby the pupil becomes dual registered.
Pupils starting school at the usual point of entry, for example reception or Year 7, will have an agreed start date.
Parents apply to a school, offers are made and parents accept. In the absence of any retraction of acceptance, parents have agreed with the school a starting date for their child who is added to the school roll on that agreed date.
When do we put a child who has an EHCP on the school roll?
Some local authorities have informed schools named in EHCPs that they must add a child to their attendance register on a given date, even if parents have made it clear that they have no intention of sending their child to the school and instead are intent on contesting the decision at a tribunal hearing.
If a school is named in a child鈥檚 EHCP then they have a duty to admit that child to the school (under s.43 of the ). However, although a school may have a duty to admit, they should not add that child to the attendance register if the parent has not agreed a start date with the school and the pupil does not attend.
A local authority does not have control of a pupil鈥檚 attendance and therefore cannot agree a start date with the school instead of the parent.
This position is also clearly stated in paragraph 8.10 of the Department for Education鈥檚 which states that adding a child鈥檚 name to a school鈥檚 admissions register without the parent鈥檚 agreement is not lawful.
There will be other circumstances where schools have a duty to admit, for example in the context of a local authority direction, or school attendance orders, but even in these circumstances the child should not be added to the school roll unless a parent has agreed a date beforehand or actually sends their child to the school. If parents do not, then they can be prosecuted for non-compliance.
What are the implications of this for schools?
There may be funding and capacity issues. In the context of EHCPs, schools may not receive funding until a pupil is added to their register, which can make it hard to effectively plan to implement the provision the child needs.
Further, if they deploy resources elsewhere and/or 鈥榝ill鈥 that place and then later the parent decides to send their child to the school, it could leave the school over capacity and put further pressure on resources. This is why engagement with prospective parents to understand their intentions will be essential.
Schools should feel confident in resisting local authority requests to add pupils to their school roll when parents have made it clear they do not intend to send their child to the school. The local authority will need to take the lead in engaging with parents to understand whether the child is receiving home education or whether they need to take enforcement action, for example by way of a school attendance order and, where applicable, follow the .
Additional support managing attendance
To help you get up to speed with the new attendance requirements, we鈥檝e published a series of supporting articles, we鈥檙e also offering bespoke training and hosted a free webinar which is now available on demand, to help you to understand and implement these changes effectively.
Key contact
Hayley O'Sullivan
Senior Associate
hayley.o'sullivan@brownejacobson.com
+44 (0)121 237 3994
Discover more
You may be interested in...
澳门六合彩资料
Expanding the role of school attendance mentors
澳门六合彩资料
When should a school add a pupil to its admissions register?
澳门六合彩资料
Attendance management checklist for schools
Press Release
Comments on the publication of Ofsted鈥檚 new school inspection handbook
澳门六合彩资料
Interventions and penalties for school non-attendance
澳门六合彩资料
New attendance monitoring requirements for schools
澳门六合彩资料
Changes to attendance requirements for schools
澳门六合彩资料
Transgender pupils and single sex schools
澳门六合彩资料
Admissions consultations underway: what do you need to know?
Guide
FAQs - converting to academy status
Press Release
Law firm picks up record breaking sixth Education Investor Award
澳门六合彩资料鈥檚 education team has been named as winner of the 鈥楲egal Advisors to Education Institutions鈥 category at the Education Investor Awards 2022 for a record sixth time.
Press Release
Thousands take part in virtual careers event to help increase diversity in the legal profession
Over 3000 young people from across the UK and Ireland took part in a virtual legal careers insight event, aimed at making the legal profession more diverse.
澳门六合彩资料
Update on schools admissions
As we start the Autumn term, the first part of the process for changing school admission arrangements can begin.
澳门六合彩资料
澳门六合彩资料鈥檚 market leading Education expertise recognised again in latest Legal 500 rankings
The new set of Legal 500 directory rankings have been published and we are proud to once again be recognised as one of the country鈥檚 leading firms advising the Education sector.
澳门六合彩资料
A new School Admission Appeals Code for 2022
On 1 October 2022 the School Admissions Appeals Code 2022 (鈥渢he Code鈥) comes into force, replacing the 2012 version and the amendments brought in during the pandemic. The Code will apply to all appeals lodged on or after 1 October 2022.
Press Release
澳门六合彩资料鈥檚 C-suite exec level coaching team appoints two new education specialists
National law firm 澳门六合彩资料 has grown its team behind its dedicated Space + Time executive coaching programme with the addition of two more qualified coaches who will work with clients in the education sector.
Press Release
澳门六合彩资料 hosts UK鈥檚 largest virtual legal careers event to boost access to careers in law
Press Release
New benchmarking service now available to guide the remuneration of school trust executive teams
The Confederation of School Trusts (CST), as the sector body for School Trusts, today releases a salary benchmarking service for executive roles in School Trusts, in conjunction with partners XpertHR, Cendex and 澳门六合彩资料.
澳门六合彩资料
Covid 19 鈥 changes to arrangements for admission appeals and exclusion reviews
The Department for Education (DfE) has recently published further regulations to amend the operation of admission appeals and exclusion reviews given the ongoing concerns around the Covid-19 pandemic.
澳门六合彩资料
Information Tribunal supports school鈥檚 position to refuse an FOI request for assessment data of other students
Following the awarding of qualifications based on determinations made by staff at examination centres over the past two years during the Coronavirus pandemic, a number of students and their parents have sought to challenge the awards.
澳门六合彩资料
Teacher assessed grades (TAGs) and proposed changes to assessment in 2022
During the summer break, students were issued with their final teacher assessed grades (TAGs) in GCSE, AS, A Level and other qualifications, with the vast majority achieving exceptional grades.
Opinion
A level results: what this means for schools and higher education?
This year鈥檚 A Level results have been a resounding success and demonstrate the commitment and resilience of students, schools and school staff during these unprecedented times. However, there will inevitably be some students who are disappointed with the teacher assessed grade.
澳门六合彩资料
School Admissions Code 2021 鈥 are you ready for implementation?
On-Demand
School Admissions Code 2021
The School Admissions Code 2021 was recently published by the Department for Education and, subject to parliamentary approval, will be implemented this September. Catch up on the key changes that will impact the way in which your admissions system will need to operate.
澳门六合彩资料
be connected newsletter for education - July 2021
In this edition we provide you with the latest in legal updates, news and insight from the sector.
澳门六合彩资料
Exam appeals guidance released
The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) this week published the appeals guidance for grades awarded this summer.
澳门六合彩资料
School Admissions Code 2021 鈥 what you need to know
The School Admissions Code 2021 (鈥渢he Code鈥) was recently published by the Department for Education (DfE) following a consultation exercise in summer 2020. The Code is currently subject to parliamentary approval, but it will be in force from 1 September 2021.
On-Demand
Grades without exams: getting equality duties right
In the second of our three-part 鈥楪rades without Exams鈥 series, we explored the equality issues arising from the process for determining grades without exams in summer 2021.
澳门六合彩资料
Gradings without exams 鈥 arrangements for the Class of 2021
Assessment arrangements for those due to finish their level 3 studies in 2021 are being finalised at present, to create a system that is deemed to be as fair as possible and to avoid a situation where the grades are felt not to reflect the students鈥 capabilities and efforts.
澳门六合彩资料
Future-proofing your Centre Policy
Exams centres, including schools, have between 12 and 30 April 2021 to develop and submit their Centre Policy. This policy will set out the centre鈥檚 approach to assessment and quality assurance during this summer鈥檚 teacher assessed grading (TAGs) process.
澳门六合彩资料
Preparing to award teacher assessed grades
Schools will now be tasked with reading a vast amount of information to get themselves ready to provide teacher-assessed grades (TAGs) for students following the recent publication of the suite of Joint Council Qualifications (JCQ).
澳门六合彩资料
Grades without exams - FAQs
In the absence of exams, the Department for Education (DfE) and Ofqual have confirmed that the 2021 GCSE, AS and A level and vocational and technical qualification grades will be determined by centre assessment.
澳门六合彩资料
be connected newsletter for education - March 2021
In this edition we provide you with the latest in legal updates, news and insight from the sector.
澳门六合彩资料
Sixth form admissions and over-offering
Following Ofqual鈥檚 announcement that GCSE students will be able to take the higher of their Centre Assessed Grades or the standardised grade, sixth forms that made more external offers than they have places have been contacting us about what they can do where they would have many more students in the sixth form than they can accommodate.
澳门六合彩资料
Department for Education (DfE) guidance on educational provision during lockdown
The government decision on lockdown and the subsequent Department for Education (DfE) guidance vulnerable children and the children of critical workers and actions for schools to take during lockdown.
澳门六合彩资料
be connected newsletter for education - September 2020
In this edition we provide you with the latest in legal updates, news and insight from the sector.
澳门六合彩资料
Summer 2020 examination results 鈥 Managing student/parental concerns
Following the A-Level and GCSE results being based on centre assessed grades (CAGs) and made available to students, Ofqual updated its guidance on appeals and concerns about malpractice.
澳门六合彩资料
COVID-19 鈥 Department for Education (DfE) guidance on admissions to selective schools
The Department for Education (DfE) has recently published updated guidance for schools that have admission arrangements that admit pupils by implementing selective arrangements.
澳门六合彩资料
Admissions during Covid-19
Whilst the Department for Education (DfE) has implemented statutory changes to elements of the frameworks relating to admission appeals, exclusions and special educational needs, there have been no changes relating to the legislation relating to admissions.
澳门六合彩资料
Conducting lawful admissions appeals during the COVID-19 outbreak
To help schools and academies prepare for admission appeals our experts have put together guidance on conducting admission appeal hearings during the outbreak.