Legal Interventions

As absence is so often a symptom of wider issues a family is facing, schools, trusts and local authorities should always work together with other local partners to understand the barriers to attendance and provide support. Where the Support First Approach has not been successful, is not engaged with, or is not appropriate, the law protects pupils' right to an education and provides a range of legal interventions to formalise attendance improvement efforts, and where all other avenues have been exhausted, enforce it through prosecuting parents.

School attendance offences: Section 444, Education Act 1996

The law states that a parent is guilty of an offence if a child of compulsory school age who is a registered pupil at a school fails to attend regularly at the school. 'Regularly' has been defined by the Supreme Court as in accordance with the rules prescribed by the school and not 'sufficiently frequent attendance'. This means a child of compulsory school age must attend the school at which they are registered every day that the school requires them to do so. Regular attendance can also be understood as attending every day that the school is open and available to the child. If the child does not attend regularly, this may mean an offence has been committed and legal intervention is the appropriate course of action.

There are two offences:

1. Section 444 (1): If the child is absent without authorisation, then the parent is guilty of an offence. This is a strict liability offence i.e., all that needs to be shown is a lack of regular attendance. Sanctions can include a fine of up to £1,000
2. Section 444 (1A): an aggravated offence. If the child is absent without authorisation and the parent knew about the child's absence and failed to act, then the parent is guilty of an offence. Sanctions can include a fine of up to £2,500 and a prison sentence of up to 3 months.

School, trusts and local authorities are expected to work together and make use of the full range of legal interventions, rather than relying solely on penalty notices or prosecution. It is for individual schools and local authorities to decide whether to use them in an individual case after considering the individual circumstances of a family. These are:

• Attendance contracts
• Education supervision orders
• Parenting Orders
• National Framework for penalty notices
• Prosecution in the Magistrates Court

Where they are used, it should be clear that it is the most appropriate intervention to change parental behaviour. Attendance legal intervention can only be used for pupils of compulsory school age. Legal interventions, including penalty notices and attendance prosecution, should not be viewed only as a punishment but rather as a measure to change behaviour and promote school attendance.

When considering if legal intervention is the right course of action, headteachers and Attendance and Entitlement Officers should have regard to their safeguarding duties as set out in the statutory guidance on Keeping Children Safe in Education.

Schools and local authorities should decide which parent(s) to involve in attendance legal intervention, but this should usually be the parent or parents who have allowed the absence. More information on who is a parent under education law can be found in School attendance guidance and legislation, under key definitions.

The overarching intention of any intervention should be to continue supporting and working with the child and family to ensure they are accessing their right to an education, in line with the support first approach.