Our Mission: Attendance

See what we are doing to make sure the government is fair on our children.

Department for Education: Attendance Consultation

In February 2022, The Traveller Movement submitted a formal response to the Department for Education’s consultation on School Attendance: Improving Consistency of Support. As a charity with a direct interest in school attendance, and with casework experience supporting families through attendance panels and legal proceedings, we used this response to highlight where the proposed changes fall short — and where Gypsy, Roma and Traveller families in particular are likely to be disproportionately affected.

Below is a summary of our response to each proposal.

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Proposal 1: Requiring schools to have a published attendance policy

Our position: Strongly agree

Most schools we work with already have a dedicated attendance policy, or one built into their wider conduct framework. We don’t expect this change to have a major practical impact, but we support the added security and consistency that comes from making it a formal requirement — including for academy trusts and governing bodies of maintained schools, where we agree minimum expectations should also be set.

Where we’d push further: the guidance should go beyond simply requiring a policy to exist, and should clearly explain what happens when attendance targets aren’t met — with an emphasis on a supportive, nurturing approach to working with children and parents, rather than an escalation straight to sanctions.

Proposal 2: Statutory guidance for local authority attendance services

Our position: Strongly agree

Local authorities are currently failing families on this issue. In our experience there is little clarity or genuine interest from local authorities in attendance matters beyond issuing fines and School Attendance Orders (SAOs) — we have yet to see an “early help” team meaningfully deliver help. While the proposed components for LA attendance services sound effective on paper, we’re not convinced that guidance alone will close the gap between where services are now and where they need to be. Schools, parents and children need real, accessible support — and in the vast majority of local authorities, that support simply doesn’t exist yet.

Proposal 3: A national framework for attendance legal intervention and Fixed Penalty Notices

Our position: Strongly disagree

We are not opposed to fines in the most severe cases, where a local authority can clearly demonstrate a parent has made no reasonable effort to secure their child’s education. But we strongly oppose the fixed nature of Fixed Penalty Notices as they currently stand. A flat fine disproportionately punishes low-income families: for higher-income households, a fixed penalty isn’t enough of a deterrent to stop term-time holidays, while for low-income households the same fine can push a family further into poverty.

We consider the proposed areas for the new regulatory framework entirely insufficient to fix this. Instead, we’re calling for a move to income-based fines — similar to the approach already used for driving offence penalties — to ensure fairness across households at every income level. We want to be clear that fines and SAOs should always be a last resort, used only once a parent (not a child) has been found to have made insufficient effort, and always with proper regard for the rights and protections of parents with disabilities.

Proposal 4: Aligning leave-of-absence rules across academies and other state-funded schools

Our position: Strongly agree

We support bringing academies in line with other state-funded schools so that families face the same rules regardless of school type.

Public Sector Equality Duty: Equalities Impact

We believe disability is the protected characteristic most at risk under these proposals. In our casework, we’ve seen local authorities openly disregard a parent’s legal disability when pursuing fines or a School Attendance Order — all while offering no meaningful support in return.

Race is also a significant concern, particularly for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children and families. These groups already have the poorest attendance record of any ethnic group, and are statistically more likely to be low-income households — meaning they face a compounding, systemic bias when it comes to the issuing of Fixed Penalty Notices under the current system.

Learn More: Attendance

Good school attendance is essential to ensuring that a child or young person receives a quality education. Attendance is so important that schools are legally required to follow strict attendance guidelines and must take action in cases of poor attendance. This page outlines the legal requirements for school attendance and explains the processes schools and local authorities use to enforce it.

▶ Watch: Attendance

Being in some form of education is mandatory for all children in the UK between the ages of 5 and 18. It’s a legal requirement, and parents who fail to ensure their child’s attendance may face fines. Regular attendance is also a crucial way to monitor whether your child or young person is receiving the education they need to be well-prepared for adult life and future employment.

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The Law on Attendance

The law requires all children to receive a full-time education from the age of five until the last Friday of June after they turn eighteen. The law regarding education for sixteen to eighteen-year-olds in England has changed — please click here for more information.

As a parent, it is your legal duty to ensure that your child receives a full-time education during the mandatory school age. Parents can be criminally prosecuted if they fail to meet this duty, either by not ensuring their child attends school or by not providing suitable home education for children who are not enrolled at a school. In most cases, you will receive warnings and offers of support from the local council before any action is taken — but you can be fined for taking your child out of school during term time without the school’s permission.

Young people aged 16 and 17 must do one of the following: stay in full-time education (such as attending college), start an apprenticeship or traineeship, or work or volunteer for at least 20 hours per week while in part-time education or training.

Download: Attendance Guide (PDF) | Download: Non-Attendance Fines (PDF)

How Attendance is Monitored

You must obtain permission from the head teacher if you wish to take your child out of school during term time — the head teacher decides how many days of absence are permitted. Permission is required for any absence from school, including family occasions such as weddings and funerals.

It is your responsibility to ensure that your child attends school on all required days. Based on The Traveller Movement’s experience, most schools aim for a 95% attendance rate. If your child’s attendance falls below 85%, the school will typically arrange a meeting with you and the Education Welfare Officer. Missing just one day per week over the course of a year works out to 80% attendance — enough to raise concern with the school. If you travel frequently, your child can register at a local school in the area where you stay, while keeping their place in their home school.

The ‘T-Code’ Explained

The T-Code is a specific code used to authorise certain absences for families who need to travel for work. If your family is travelling for work purposes, make sure you inform the school so they can record a ‘T’ in the register — this marks agreed absences for Romani (Gypsy), Roma and Irish Traveller pupils while their parents are travelling for work.

Who can use it: the term “Traveller” includes various ethnic and occupational groups, including Irish and Scottish Travellers, English and Welsh Gypsies, Roma, Showmen (fairground people), Circus people, Bargees, and New Age Travellers.

When it should be used: only when families are travelling for occupational purposes, having agreed the absence with the school in advance, and where it’s uncertain whether the pupil is attending educational provision elsewhere.

When it cannot be used: for any other absences, such as weddings, funerals, or non-work-related events. Families from these groups who are not travelling are expected to register their children at a school and attend regularly, following the same rules as everyone else.

Good to know: to ensure continuity in education, Romani (Gypsy), Roma and Irish Traveller children are expected to attend a school near their travelling location and be dual registered at both their main school and the local school during the period of travel.

Download: The T-Code (PDF)

Consequences of Poor Attendance

Each school has its own attendance policy, which may sit within their behaviour or code of conduct policy, so it’s worth checking your school’s website as policies can vary. Schools are generally supportive in managing poor attendance, but they have a legal duty to monitor it and may face investigation if they fail to address high non-attendance rates — so parents can expect to receive a fine if their child does not attend school.

Parents of children who do not attend school may be issued a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) by the local authority, typically £60, rising to £120 if paid after 21 days and before 28 days. Each local authority publishes a ‘Code of Conduct’ for these notices, and it’s the head teacher who decides whether to refer a case to the local authority. There is no right of appeal against a Fixed Penalty Notice — if it isn’t paid, the local authority may either proceed to prosecution or withdraw it. The local authority can also prosecute parents without issuing a notice at all, and must fund the prosecution itself. If a registered pupil of compulsory school age fails to attend regularly — meaning on all days required by the school — the parent may be found guilty of an offence.

Under Section 444(1) of the Education Act 1996, a parent whose child is absent without authorisation is guilty of an offence punishable by a fine of up to £1,000. Section 444(1A) covers the aggravated version of this offence, where a parent knew about the unauthorised absence and failed to act — this carries a fine of up to £2,500 or up to 3 months in prison. Separately, under Section 103 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, parents can be prosecuted if their excluded child is found in a public place during school hours, with a fine of up to £1,000.

Possible defences against non-attendance offences include: the absence was authorised by the head teacher; the child was sick or unable to attend due to an unavoidable cause; the child was observing a religious holiday; the school is outside the statutory walking distance and the local authority failed to provide transport; the child is receiving suitable alternative education; or the parents’ trade requires them to travel.

Our Advice

We encourage parents to have open conversations with schools about any challenges preventing attendance — schools can only provide support if they’re aware of the issues. If you believe you’ve been unfairly fined or taken to court, due to discrimination or a failure by the school to follow its own policies, please contact our Community Advocacy Caseworker for advice and support.

For further information, visit Child Law Advice.

Find Help: Attendance

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[migrated from https://education.travellermovement.org.uk/find-help/find-help-attendance/]