Rationale
The law entitles every child of compulsory school age to an efficient, full-time education suitable to their age, aptitude, and any special educational need they may have. It is the legal responsibility of every parent to make sure their child receives that education either by attendance at a school or by education otherwise than at a school. Where parents decide to have their child registered at school, they have an additional legal duty to ensure their child attends that school regularly. This means their child must attend every day that the school is open, except in a small number of allowable circumstances such as being too ill to attend or being given permission for an absence in advance from the school.
This is essential for pupils to get the most out of their school experience, including their attainment, wellbeing, and wider life chances. The pupils with the highest attainment at the end of key stage 2 and key stage 4 have higher rates of attendance over the key stage compared to those with the lowest attainment. At KS2, pupils not meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths had an overall absence rate of 4.7%, compared to 3.5% among those meeting the expected standard. Moreover, the overall absence rate of pupils not meeting the expected standard was higher than among those meeting the higher standard (4.7% compared to 2.7%). At KS4, pupils not achieving grade 9 to 4 in English and maths had an overall absence rate of 8.8%, compared to 5.2% 9 among those achieving grade 42. The overall absence rate of pupils not achieving grade 9 to 4 was over twice as high as those achieving grade 9 to 5 (8.8% compared to 3.7%).
A criminal offence occurs if a parent fails to secure a child’s regular attendance at a school at which the child is registered (section 444 of the Education Act 1996). Education Penalty Notices are supplemental to the existing sanctions and also offer a deterrent to unauthorised absences.
On a community level, Education Penalty Notices provide the LA with an opportunity to make clear its level of expectation on parents in securing regular pupil attendance and also to make clear its degree of tolerance beyond which continued parental failure to ensure their child’s regular school attendance will not be accepted. In certain cases they can also provide a more proportionate response to non-attendance than prosecution and one which can often be taken sooner and for less serious instances of non-attendance.
At the same time, the limits on the use of Education Penalty Notices in the case of repeat offenders brought in by the 2024 regulations ensure that the use of Education Penalty Notices sits within a range of escalating enforcement options which include prosecution for offences under sections 444(1) and (1A) Education Act 1996.
The use of Education Penalty Notices to combat attendance problems also sits alongside a range of alternative strategies to improve attendance. Except in the case of unauthorised leave of absence (such as for term time holidays) there is a strong expectation that support will be offered by schools to all parents to improve attendance before enforcement options are considered.