The Education (Pupils' Attendance Records) Regulations 1991

Amendments of the Pupils' Registration Regulations 1956

2.—(1) The Pupils' Registration Regulations 1956(1) shall be amended in accordance with the provisions of this regulation.

(2) For paragraph (4) of regulation 3 there shall be substituted the following paragraphs—

“(4) There shall be recorded in the Attendance Register at the commencement of each morning and afternoon session the following particulars—

(a) the presence or absence of every pupil whose name is entered in and not deleted from the Admission Register; and

(b) in the case of any such pupil of compulsory school age who is absent, a statement whether or not his absence is authorised:

but this paragraph does not apply in respect of a pupil who is a boarder in an independent school.

(5) For the purposes of paragraph (4)(b) above only a pupil is of compulsory school age unless—

(a) he has not attained the age of five years before the commencement of the term of which the session forms part; or

(b) he has attained the age of sixteen years before the first day of the month of September in the school year of which the session forms part.

(6) Where it is not possible to record at the commencement of a session whether or not a pupil’s absence is authorised, that information shall be recorded as soon as practicable after it becomes known to the person with responsibility for completing the Register.

(7) In the case of a pupil who is not a boarder, his absence shall not be treated as unauthorised for the purposes of this regulation if he is unable to attend—

(a) by reason of sickness or any unavoidable cause; or

(b) on a day exclusively set apart for religious observance by the religious body to which his parent belongs; or

(c) because the school is not within walking distance of the pupil’s home, and no suitable arrangements have been made by the local education authority either for his transport to and from the school, or for boarding accommoda tion for him at or near the school or for enabling him to become a registered pupil at a school nearer to his home.

(8) In the case of a pupil who is a boarder in a school which is not an independent school, any unauthorised absence shall not be treated as such if he was prevented from being present by reason of sickness or any unavoidable cause.

(9) For the purposes of this regulation—

(a) a pupil’s absence is authorised if he has been granted leave of absence by any person authorised in that behalf by the proprietor; and

(b) walking distance means, in relation to a child who has not attained the age of eight years, two miles and, in the case of any other child three miles, measured by the nearest available route.”.

(3) At the end of regulation 4 there shall be added the word “or” and the following—

“(c) whether or not he is of compulsory school age on the ground that, having been admitted to the school for nursery education, he has not on completing such education transferred to a reception class at the school.

For the purposes of this regulation—

(a)

children are to be regarded as having been admitted to a school for nursery education if they were placed on admission in a nursery class; and

(b)

“reception class” means a class in which education is provided which is suitable to the requirements of pupils aged five and any pupils under or over that age whom it is expedient to educate together with pupils of that age.”.

(4) For regulation 10 there shall be substituted the following regulation—

“Use of computers

10.— (1) Nothing in these Regulations shall be taken to prevent the keeping of an Attendance Register or Admission Register by means of a computer, but where such a Register is so kept the following paragraphs of this regulation shall apply for the purpose of modifying the requirements of these Regulations.

(2) The requirements of paragraph (1) of regulation 3 shall not be treated as satisfied unless a print of the Attendance Register is made not less than once every month and a print of the Admission Register not less than once a year.

(3) The requirements of regulation 8 shall not be treated as satisfied unless, where any correction to an original entry in the Registers is made, prints of the Register in question made after the correction distinguish clearly between the original entry and the correction.

(4) The requirements of regulation 9 shall not be treated as satisfied, in the case of Attendance Registers, unless each print of the Attendance Register relating to a particular school year is retained in a single volume for that year and that volume is retained for a period of three years after the end of that school year.

(5) A print of a Register produced by means of a computer shall for the purposes of regulation 8 be taken to be made in ink.

(6) The provisions of this regulation are without prejudice to the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1984(2),

(7) A reference in this regulation to a numbered regulation is to the regulation bearing that number in these Regulations.”.

(1)

S.I. 1956/357, amended by S.I. 1987/1285 and 1988/1185.

(2)

1984 c. 35.