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Children at risk of missing education
School governing bodies, academy trusts, and other school proprietors must have regard
to the statutory guidance ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ when making
arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
Schools should put in place appropriate safeguarding responses for children who go
missing from school, particularly on repeat occasions. Where reasonably practicable, for
every pupil, schools should hold an emergency contact number for more than one
person. Emergency contact numbers should be provided and updated by the parent with
whom the pupil normally resides. This goes beyond the legal requirement but is good
practice. Doing so provides schools with additional options for making contact with a
responsible adult when a child is missing school and is also identified as a welfare and/or
safeguarding concern.
Where school staff have concerns about a child, they should use their professional
judgement and knowledge of the individual pupil to inform their decision as to whether
welfare concerns should be escalated.
Local authorities have a duty
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to put in place arrangements for identifying (as far as it is
possible) those children of compulsory school age in their area who are not school
registered or receiving suitable education otherwise than at a school. Local authorities
should trace those children and ensure that they receive full-time education.
All schools must notify the local authority when a pupil’s name is to be deleted from the
admission register under any of the grounds prescribed in regulation 8 of the Education
(Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 as amended, as soon as the ground for
removal is met and no later than the time at which the pupil’s name is removed from the
register. This duty does not apply where the pupil’s name is removed after they have
completed the school’s final year, unless the local authority requests for such information
to be provided.
Where a school notifies a local authority that a pupil’s name is to be deleted from the
admission register, the school must
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provide the local authority with the following
information:
• the full name of the pupil
• the full name and address of any parent with whom the pupil lives
8
Under section 436A of the Education Act 1996 (as inserted by section 4 of the Education and Inspections
Act 2006). There is separate statutory guidance for local authorities on how to carry out this duty (including
advice for schools) – at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-missing-education
9
Under regulation 12 of the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 (as amended by the
Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2016).