The School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024

Deletion of names from admission register

9.—(1) The proprietor of a school must ensure that the name of a pupil of compulsory school age is deleted from the school’s admission register when—

(a) the pupil has been registered at another school, unless—

(i) a school attendance order naming the school is in force in relation to the pupil;

(ii) the pupil is a mobile child and the school is their main school; or

(iii) the proprietor has agreed with a person with control of the pupil’s attendance at the other school, or is such a person and has decided, that the pupil should be registered at more than one school;

(b) the pupil was admitted to the school for nursery education and—

(i) they have completed such education and would, if they continued attending the school, be transferred to a reception, or more senior, class at the school; but

(ii) the proprietor does not have reasonable grounds to believe that the pupil will attend the school again;

(c) the pupil is also registered as a pupil at one or more other schools and—

(i) the proprietor does not have reasonable grounds to believe that the pupil will attend the school again;

(ii) the proprietor of each other school where the pupil is registered has consented to the deletion;

(iii) there is no school attendance order naming the school in force in relation to the pupil; and

(iv) the pupil is not a mobile child or, if they are, the school is not their main school;

(d) a school attendance order relating to the pupil and formerly naming the school has been amended by the relevant local authority to substitute the name of the school with that of another school;

(e) a school attendance order relating to the pupil and naming the school has been revoked by the relevant local authority on the ground that arrangements have been made for the pupil to receive suitable education otherwise than at school;

(f) a parent of the pupil has told the proprietor in writing that the pupil will no longer attend the school after a certain day and will receive education otherwise than at school and—

(i) that day has passed; and

(ii) there is no school attendance order naming the school in force in relation to the pupil;

(g) the pupil no longer normally lives a reasonable distance from the school and—

(i) the proprietor does not have reasonable grounds to believe that the pupil will attend the school again; and

(ii) the pupil is not a boarder;

(h) the pupil has been given leave of absence and—

(i) the pupil has not attended the school within the ten school days immediately after the end of the period of leave;

(ii) the proprietor does not have reasonable grounds to believe that the pupil is unable to attend because of sickness or an unavoidable cause; and

(iii) the proprietor and the local authority have jointly made reasonable efforts to find out the pupil’s location and circumstances but—

(aa) they have not succeeded; or

(bb) they have succeeded and they agree that there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the pupil will attend the school again, taking into account any reasonable steps they could take (either jointly or separately) to secure the pupil’s attendance;

(i) the pupil has been continuously absent from the school for at least twenty school days and—

(i) none of the circumstances mentioned in Table 2 in regulation 10(3) or in any row of Table 3 in regulation 10(4) other than the final three rows applied to the pupil at any point during that period;

(ii) the proprietor does not have reasonable grounds to believe that the pupil is unable to attend because of sickness or an unavoidable cause; and

(iii) the proprietor and the local authority have jointly made reasonable efforts to find out the pupil’s location and circumstances but—

(aa) they have not succeeded; or

(bb) they have succeeded and they agree that there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the pupil will attend the school again, taking into account any reasonable steps they could take (either jointly or separately) to secure the pupil’s attendance;

(j) the pupil is detained under a sentence of detention and the proprietor does not have reasonable grounds to believe that the pupil will attend the school after they cease to be detained under that sentence;

(k) the pupil has died;

(l) the pupil will be over compulsory school age by the next time the school meets and—

(i) the proprietor does not have reasonable grounds to believe that the pupil will attend the school again; or

(ii) the pupil does not meet the academic entry requirements to be transferred to the school’s sixth form;

(m) the pupil is a boarder at the school and—

(i) the school is a school maintained by a local authority or is an Academy;

(ii) charges for the pupil’s board and lodging are payable by a parent of the pupil; and

(iii) those charges remain unpaid by the parent at the end of the school term to which they relate;

(n) the pupil has ceased to be a pupil at the school and the school is not—

(i) a school maintained by a local authority; or

(ii) an Academy; or

(o) the pupil has been permanently excluded from the school.

(2) If a registered pupil at a special school is of compulsory school age and became a registered pupil at that school under arrangements made by a local authority, the proprietor of that school must ensure that the pupil’s name is not deleted from the school’s admission register unless—

(a) paragraph (1)(d), (e), (k) or (o) applies;

(b) the local authority who made those arrangements have given their consent to the deletion; or

(c) the local authority who made those arrangements have refused their consent but the Secretary of State has directed that the pupil’s name be deleted.

(3) The proprietor of a school must ensure that the name of a pupil who is not of compulsory school age is deleted from the admission register when—

(a) the pupil is not a boarder and the proprietor does not have reasonable grounds to believe that they will attend the school again;

(b) the pupil is a boarder and has ceased to be a pupil at the school;

(c) the pupil has been continuously absent from the school for at least twenty school days and—

(i) the pupil was not absent with leave at any point during that period;

(ii) the proprietor does not have reasonable grounds to believe that the pupil is unable to attend because of sickness or an unavoidable cause; and

(iii) the proprietor has made reasonable efforts to find out the pupil’s location and circumstances but—

(aa) has not succeeded; or

(bb) has succeeded and has no reasonable grounds to believe that the pupil will attend the school again;

(d) the pupil has died; or

(e) the pupil has been permanently excluded from the school.

(4) In this regulation—

“main school”, in relation to a mobile child, means the school that, during the last 18 months, the child has attended during periods when their parent was not travelling in the course of trade or business or, if there is more than one such school, the school that most recently fulfils those criteria;

“pupil” means a registered pupil, except in the second place where it occurs in each of paragraphs (1)(n) and (3)(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 who it is expedient to educate together with pupils of that age;

“the relevant local authority”, in relation to a school attendance order, means the local authority who served the school attendance order;

“suitable education”, in relation to a child, means efficient full-time education suitable to the child’s age, ability and aptitude and any special educational needs they may have.

(5) For the purposes of this regulation—

(a) whether a pupil normally lives at a place is not affected by temporary or occasional absences;

(b) a child is admitted to a school for nursery education if they are admitted for early years provision as defined by section 20 of the Childcare Act 2006(1) and, on admission, are not placed in a reception class or any more senior class;

(c) the permanent exclusion of a pupil from a maintained school, pupil referral unit, Academy school or alternative provision Academy on disciplinary grounds does not take effect until the responsible body (as defined in section 51A of the Education Act 2002(2)) has discharged its duties under the School Discipline (Pupil Exclusions and Reviews) (England) Regulations 2012(3) and—

(i) the relevant person, within the meaning of those Regulations, has stated in writing that they do not intend to apply for a review under those Regulations;

(ii) the time for applying for a review has expired and no review has been applied for in that time; or

(iii) the relevant person has applied for a review within that time and—

(aa) they have abandoned the review;

(bb) the review panel has upheld the responsible body’s decision that the pupil should not be reinstated; or

(cc) the review panel has recommended or directed that the responsible body reconsider its decision and the responsible body has decided that the pupil should not be reinstated;

(d) the permanent exclusion of a pupil from a city technology college or a city college for the technology of the arts does not take effect until the proprietor has discharged its duties in relation to a permanent exclusion under the agreement entered into pursuant to section 482 of the 1996 Act(4) and—

(i) the relevant person (within the meaning of that agreement) has stated in writing that they do not intend to bring an appeal;

(ii) the time for bringing an appeal has expired and no appeal has been brought within that time; or

(iii) an appeal brought within that time has been determined or abandoned.

(1)

2006 c. 21.

(2)

2002 c. 32. Section 51A was inserted by the Education Act 2011 (c. 21), section 4.

(3)

S.I. 2012/1033, amended by S.I. 2020/543, S.I. 2020/908, S.I. 2021/204, S.I. 2021/953, S.I. 2022/788, S.I. 2023/571 and S.I. 2023/882.

(4)

Section 482 was repealed by the Education Act 2011 (c. 21), section 63 and Schedule 14, paragraph 16.