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Year
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2011
Type
House
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Month
Department
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Answering member
Legislative stage
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Subject
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To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many pupils were absent from school for at least (a) 10 per cent., (b) 15 per cent. and (c) 20 per cent. of the school year in each (i) region, (ii) local authority and (iii) parliamentary constituency, in the latest year...
To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many pupils were absent from school for at least (a) 10 per cent., (b) 15 per cent. and (c) 20 per cent. of the school year in each (i) region, (ii) local authority and (iii) parliamentary constituency, in the latest year...
Asked by
Charlotte Leslie
(Conservative)
Answered by
Nick Gibb
(Conservative)
Answering body
Department for Education
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
2 November 2011
For answer on
7 November 2011
Answered on
29 November 2011
The requested information has been placed in the House Libraries.
Subjects
Absenteeism; Pupils; Truancy
Date
29 November 2011
Reference
79221; 536 c821W
House
House of Commons
Deposited by
Department for Education
Type
Deposited papers
Author
Department for Education
Committed on
29 November 2011
Received on
29 November 2011
Subjects
Constituencies; Absenteeism; Education; Local government; Pupils; Primary education; Secondary education; Truancy
Date
29 November 2011
Reference
DEP2011-1929
House
House of Commons
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action is being pursued to reduce or eliminate the adverse effects for involvement in crime of truancy, school exclusion, low educational attainment and socially deprived neighbourhoods.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action is being pursued to reduce or eliminate the adverse effects for involvement in crime of truancy, school exclusion, low educational attainment and socially deprived neighbourhoods.
Asked by
Lord Ouseley
(Crossbench)
Answered by
Lord Henley
(Conservative)
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Answered on
15 November 2011
The Ending Gang and Youth Violence report sets in motion an ambitious cross-government approach to address the entrenched educational and social failures that can drive problems like gang and youth violence.
As the report states, tackling school absence and exclusion is essential to providing young people with the best chance in life and keeping them away from the streets where gangs operate.
The Department for Education (DfE) has taken a number of steps to improve school attendance, including: reducing the threshold at which a pupil is defined as persistently absent, so schools take action earlier; reviewing parental responsibility measures; and making schools more accountable by publishing school-level absence data.
The DfE has also introduced legislation making it a legal requirement on local authorities to ensure that all pupils they place in alternative provision receive a full-time education. By March 2012, one in 10 secondary schools will also be part of a trial which gives responsibility for purchasing alternative provision to head teachers to ensure schools continue to monitor the attainment of the children they permanently exclude.
A new Troubled Families Team in the Department for Communities and Local Government will drive forward the Prime Minister's commitment to turn around the lives of 120,000 troubled families with reduced criminality and violence being key outcomes for this work.
Subjects
Crime; Disadvantaged; Pupil exclusions; Young people; Truancy
Date
15 November 2011
Reference
12972; 732 c145-6WA
House
House of Lords
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to improve school attendance.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to improve school attendance.
Asked by
Julian Sturdy
(Conservative)
Answered by
Nick Gibb
(Conservative)
Answering body
Department for Education
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
8 September 2011
For answer on
12 September 2011
Answered on
10 October 2011
We are taking a number of steps to improve school attendance. In particular we have reduced the threshold at which a pupil is defined as persistently absent to where a pupil is absent for more than 15% of their schooling, down from 20%. We will continue to look at the possibility of further lowering the threshold over time.There are a range of parental responsibility measures available to tackle poor attendance, which include parenting contracts; parenting orders; penalty notices; and prosecutions. Charlie Taylor, the Department's independent adviser on school behaviour, along with a team of teaching professionals, will be undertaking a review of these measures in order to make them more effective and to encourage schools to make more use of them.We will be publishing school level absence data in both the combined autumn and spring term and annual statistical releases.As part of the new Ofsted inspections framework inspectors will, from January 2012, be looking at school attendance as part the wider behaviour strand of the framework.
Subjects
Attendance; Pupils; Truancy
Date
10 October 2011
Reference
71555; 533 c212W
House
House of Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many prosecutions of parents were brought by local education authorities for non-attendance at school of school age children in (a) England and (b) Northamptonshire in the last year for which figures are available; and how many of those prosecuted were from...
To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many prosecutions of parents were brought by local education authorities for non-attendance at school of school age children in (a) England and (b) Northamptonshire in the last year for which figures are available; and how many of those prosecuted were from...
Asked by
Philip Hollobone
(Conservative)
Answered by
Nick Gibb
(Conservative)
Answering body
Department for Education
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
5 July 2011
For answer on
11 July 2011
Answered on
11 July 2011
The number of people proceeded against at the magistrates courts for offences under section 444 of the Education Act 1996 in England and the Northamptonshire police force area in 2010 (latest available) are in the following table.Information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice on the court proceedings database does not contain information about the circumstances behind each case, beyond the description provided in the statute under which proceedings are brought. It is not possible to identify from centrally held information whether a defendant is from a Traveller community.Court proceedings data for 2011 will be available in the spring of 2012.
| Number of persons proceeded against at the magistrates courts for offences under section 444 of the Education Act 1996¹ in England and Northamptonshire police force area, 2010²,³ | |
|---|---|
| Area | Proceeded against |
| England | 11,260 |
| Of which: | |
| Northamptonshire | 104 |
| ¹ Offences under section 444 of the Education Act 1996: Parent's failure to secure child's regular attendance at school. Parent knowing that their child is failing to attend school regularly failing without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school. ² The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. ³ Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems, generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice. |
Subjects
Truancy
Date
11 July 2011
Reference
64651; 531 c92W
House
House of Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what results pupils of each school of the Schools Partnership Trust achieved in GCSE examinations in each of the last 10 years; and what the rate of (a) truancy and (b) (i) temporary and (ii) permanent exclusion was in each school in...
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what results pupils of each school of the Schools Partnership Trust achieved in GCSE examinations in each of the last 10 years; and what the rate of (a) truancy and (b) (i) temporary and (ii) permanent exclusion was in each school in...
Asked by
Lord Mann
(Labour)
Answered by
Nick Gibb
(Conservative)
Answering body
Department for Education
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
23 June 2011
For answer on
28 June 2011
Answered on
6 July 2011
[holding answer 28 June 2011]: The available information for state-funded secondary schools in the Schools Partnership Trust is shown in the following table.Information for Garforth Academy and Rossington All Saints Academy is not available as these schools opened in November 2010 and April 2011 respectively.
| GCSE examination results, rates of authorised and unauthorised absence and percentage of fixed period and permanent exclusions in state-funded schools in the School Partnership Trust 2009/10 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of pupils achieving 5+ A*-C GCSEs (or equivalent) including English and maths GCSEs | Authorised absence rate¹ | Unauthorised rate¹ | Percentage of fixed period exclusions² | Percentage of permanent exclusions² | |
| De Warenne Academy | 30 | 6.61 | 2.27 | ³— | ³— |
| South Leeds Academy | 29 | 8.47 | 6.01 | ³— | ³— |
| ¹ The number of sessions missed due to authorised/unauthorised absence expressed as a percentage of the total number of possible sessions. | |||||
| ² The number of permanent/fixed period exclusions expressed as a percentage of the number (headcount) of all pupils (excluding dually registered). | |||||
| ³ Not available. Exclusion data for 2009/10 is due to be published at the end of July 2011. |
Subjects
Pupil exclusions; Truancy; Academies; GCSE
Date
6 July 2011
Reference
62700; 530 c1300W
House
House of Commons
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what sanctions they intend to put in place against pupils or their parents who fail to attend education or training when the age of participation is raised to 18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what sanctions they intend to put in place against pupils or their parents who fail to attend education or training when the age of participation is raised to 18.
Asked by
Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
(Labour)
Answered by
Lord Hill of Oareford
(Conservative)
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Answered on
23 June 2011
When the participation age is raised, to 17 in 2013 and to 18 in 2015, the legislative duty will be on the young person to continue in education or training and not the parent. Enforcement powers for local authorities are set out in the Education and Skills Act (2008). This is a long process involving mainly administrative sanctions, and no young person could enter the enforcement system if there is a reason why they are not participating in education or training.
We are legislating through the current Education Bill to enable the Secretary of State to delay the introduction of the enforcement process, and have committed to reviewing the need for it on an annual basis from 2014.
Subjects
Enforcement; Truancy; School leaving
Date
23 June 2011
Reference
9975; 728 c332-3WA
House
House of Lords
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the rate of truancy is for secondary schools in (a) Berkshire, (b) Reading and (c) Reading West constituency; and what steps he is taking to reduce levels of truancy.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the rate of truancy is for secondary schools in (a) Berkshire, (b) Reading and (c) Reading West constituency; and what steps he is taking to reduce levels of truancy.
Asked by
Lord Sharma
(Conservative)
Answered by
Nick Gibb
(Conservative)
Answering body
Department for Education
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
24 March 2011
For answer on
28 March 2011
Answered on
1 April 2011
Information on pupil absence in 2009/10 is shown in the table. Berkshire was reorganised in 1998, information has been provided for the six local authorities that Berkshire was divided into.The closest measure we have to truancy is unauthorised absence. However, this includes family holidays not agreed, late arrival, ““other unauthorised circumstances””, and ““no reason given””, not all of which is truancy.
| Pupil absence in state-funded secondary schools¹,²: 2009/10 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of half days missed³ | |||||
| Pupil enrolments in schools during 2009/104 | Authorised absence | Unauthorised absence | Overall absence | Percentage of persistent absentees5,6 | |
| Bracknell Forest | 5,646 | 0.06 | 0.01 | 0.07 | 0.04 |
| Reading | 5,205 | 0.05 | 0.01 | 0.06 | 0.03 |
| Slough | 8,175 | 0.06 | 0.01 | 0.07 | 0.04 |
| West Berkshire | 10,062 | 0.05 | 0.01 | 0.07 | 0.04 |
| Windsor and Maidenhead | 8,641 | 0.05 | 0.01 | 0.06 | 0.03 |
| Wokingham | 8,677 | 0.05 | 0.01 | 0.07 | 0.04 |
| Reading West constituency | 5,958 | 0.06 | 0.01 | 0.07 | 0.05 |
| ¹ Includes middle schools as deemed. | |||||
| ² Excludes city technology colleges and academies. | |||||
| ³ The number of sessions missed due to authorised/unauthorised/overall absence expressed as a percentage of the total number of possible sessions. | |||||
| 4 Number of pupil enrolments in schools from start of the school year until 21 May 2010. Includes pupils on the school roll for at least one session who are aged between five and 15. Excludes boarders. Some pupils may be counted more than once (if they moved schools during the school year or are registered in more than one school). | |||||
| 5 Number of persistent absentees expressed as a percentage of the total number of enrolments. | |||||
| 6 Persistent absentees are defined as having 64 or more sessions of absence (authorised and unauthorised) during the year, around 20% overall absence rate. | |||||
| Source: | |||||
| School Census |
Subjects
Truancy; Berkshire
Date
1 April 2011
Reference
49771; 526 c546-8W
House
House of Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the position of England in international comparator rates for truancy.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the position of England in international comparator rates for truancy.
Asked by
Chris Ruane
(Labour)
Answered by
Nick Gibb
(Conservative)
Answering body
Department for Education
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
18 March 2011
For answer on
22 March 2011
Answered on
23 March 2011
The Department for Education has not assessed the position of England in international comparator rates for truancy.
Subjects
Truancy
Date
23 March 2011
Reference
48485; 525 c1188W
House
House of Commons
Deposited by
Department for Education
Type
Deposited papers
Author
Department for Education
Committed on
18 March 2011
Received on
18 March 2011
Subjects
Attendance; Education; Fines; Local government; Parents; Pupils; Schools; Truancy
Date
18 March 2011
Reference
DEP2011-0485
House
House of Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many parents of children in age group (a) 5 to 11 and (b) 12 to 16 were fined as a result of their children not attending school in each local education authority in each of the last five years.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many parents of children in age group (a) 5 to 11 and (b) 12 to 16 were fined as a result of their children not attending school in each local education authority in each of the last five years.
Asked by
Glyn Davies
(Conservative)
Answered by
Nick Gibb
(Conservative)
Answering body
Department for Education
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
8 March 2011
For answer on
10 March 2011
Answered on
18 March 2011
Information from the Ministry of Justice court proceedings database show the number of defendants (parents/including carers) fined at all courts for offences relating to failing to ensure their children's regular school attendance in England and Wales for the years 2005 to 2009 can be viewed in table 1, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries. Data are held centrally at police force area level and not local education authority area. The information held does not identify the age group of the child.The Department also collects and publishes data at local authority level for England on the number of penalty notices (fines) issued to parents for the offence of failing to ensure their children's regular school attendance. The information held does not identify the age group of the child. Data provided in table 2, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries relates to each of the last five academic years from 2004 to 2009 for all local authorities in England. Fuller details are also available on the Department's website at:"http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/pupilsupport/behaviour/parents/a0010302/parental-responsibility-data"
Subjects
Fines; Truancy
Date
18 March 2011
Reference
46050; 525 c706W
House
House of Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of teenagers (a) did not complete their schooling and (b) were absent from school without authorisation in each (i) local authority area and (ii) constituency in each of the last five years.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of teenagers (a) did not complete their schooling and (b) were absent from school without authorisation in each (i) local authority area and (ii) constituency in each of the last five years.
Asked by
Chris Ruane
(Labour)
Answered by
Nick Gibb
(Conservative)
Answering body
Department for Education
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
1 February 2011
For answer on
3 February 2011
Answered on
9 March 2011
Information on the proportion of teenagers who did not complete their schooling is not collected by this Department, nor can it be accurately derived from the data currently collected on pupils.Information on pupil absence is collected for pupils of compulsory school age only. Information on pupils aged 12 to 15 as at 31 August 2009 who were absent from school without authorisation in each local authority area and parliamentary constituency in 2008/09 has been placed in the House Libraries. To provide information for further years would incur disproportionate cost.
Subjects
Truancy; School leaving
Date
9 March 2011
Reference
38497; 524 c1113W
House
House of Commons
Deposited by
Department for Education
Type
Deposited papers
Author
Department for Education
Committed on
9 March 2011
Received on
11 March 2011
Subjects
Constituencies; Education; Local government; Schools; Truancy
Date
9 March 2011
Reference
DEP2011-0430
House
House of Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of students in further education were persistent absentees in each year since 2004.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of students in further education were persistent absentees in each year since 2004.
Asked by
John Robertson
(Labour)
Answered by
Nick Gibb
(Conservative)
Answering body
Department for Education
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
3 February 2011
For answer on
8 February 2011
Answered on
28 February 2011
[holding answer 8 February 2011]: Information on pupils who were persistent absentees is not collected for further education establishments. The Department collects information on pupil absence for pupils aged 5 to 15 at the start of the school year from maintained primary, secondary, all special schools, city technology colleges and academies.Information on absence can be found in Statistical First Release 07/2010 ““Pupil Absence in Schools in England, Including Pupil Characteristics: 2008/09”” at:"http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000918/index.shtml"
Subjects
Absenteeism; Further education; Truancy
Date
28 February 2011
Reference
39139; 524 c264-5W
House
House of Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the level of unauthorised absence was in further education establishments that were (a) sixth forms and (b) colleges in each year since 2004.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the level of unauthorised absence was in further education establishments that were (a) sixth forms and (b) colleges in each year since 2004.
Asked by
John Robertson
(Labour)
Answered by
Nick Gibb
(Conservative)
Answering body
Department for Education
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
3 February 2011
For answer on
8 February 2011
Answered on
14 February 2011
[holding answer 8 February 2011]: Information on pupils with unauthorised absence is not collected for further education establishments. The Department collects information on pupil absence for pupils aged five to 15 at the start of the school year from maintained primary and secondary schools, all special schools, city technology colleges and academies.Information on absence can be found in Statistical First Release 07/2010 'Pupil Absence in Schools in England, Including Pupil Characteristics: 2008/09' at:"http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000918/index.shtml"
Subjects
Further education; Truancy
Date
14 February 2011
Reference
39138; 523 c558W
House
House of Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent analysis has been undertaken of geographical variations in levels of unauthorised absences from (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent analysis has been undertaken of geographical variations in levels of unauthorised absences from (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.
Asked by
Baroness Brown of Silvertown
(Labour)
Answered by
Nick Gibb
(Conservative)
Answering body
Department for Education
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
7 January 2011
For answer on
11 January 2011
Answered on
3 February 2011
The most recent analysis on unauthorised absence has been published as part of the Statistical First Release (SFR) ““Pupil Absence in Schools in England: Autumn Term 2009 and Spring Term 2010””. This is available on our Research and Statistics Gateway website at"http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000962/index.shtml"This contains Government office region and local authority level analyses (in tables 6 and 7).Data for the academic year 2008/09 is available in the SFR ““Pupil Absence in Schools in England, Including Pupil Characteristics: 2008/09””, which can be found at"http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000918/index.shtml"This contains Government office region and local authority level analyses (in tables 7.1 and 7.2) as well as tables relating pupil absence to school location and pupil residence by local authority district (tables 8.1 to 8.8).Additionally, we publish pupil residence absence data for various geographic area types on the Neighbourhood Statistics website at"http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/"These data are available for 2006/07, 2007/08 and 2008/09.
Subjects
Truancy
Date
3 February 2011
Reference
33176; 522 c967W
House
House of Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what account his Department takes of appeals made direct to it by parents in respect of unauthorised absences of pupils from school.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what account his Department takes of appeals made direct to it by parents in respect of unauthorised absences of pupils from school.
Asked by
Baroness Brown of Silvertown
(Labour)
Answered by
Nick Gibb
(Conservative)
Answering body
Department for Education
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
7 January 2011
For answer on
11 January 2011
Answered on
3 February 2011
The Department receives a number of complaints from parents on a variety of school attendance related matters. These are usually considered under section 496/7 of the Education Act 1996. The decision whether or not to authorise individual pupil absences rests with the person who has responsibility for the school register (normally the head teacher) and the governing body of the school which has overall responsibility for the register. Where a governing body has followed the relevant attendance regulations it is unlikely that there will be grounds for the Secretary of State to intervene.The Secretary of State has power to intervene under section 496/7 of the Education Act 1996 if he considers that the governing body of a maintained school or a local authority has acted unreasonably in the exercise of their powers or duties (section 496) or that they have failed to carry out a duty (section 497). Every matter that is referred to the Secretary of State under section 496 /497 will be considered on the individual merits of the case.Where attendance becomes problematic schools should address the matter informally with parents in the first instance. They may also want to back this up with voluntary parenting contracts that provide support to parents to enable them to manage their child's school attendance.Where parents are unwilling or refuse to co-operate then decisions will have to be taken at a local level in relation to more rigorous sanctions—such as sanctions under the school attendance order framework, including school attendance orders, prosecutions, penalty notices, parenting orders. Ultimately these decisions are made by local authorities and by the courts. We do expect prosecutions to be used as a last resort where other strategies to address poor attendance have failed.Local authorities receive information on pupil attendance from the schools in their area. They are under a duty to use the school attendance order statutory framework where they identify that a child may not be receiving suitable education because of a failure to attend school regularly, Parents can be prosecuted for failure to comply with a school attendance order. There is provision within the school attendance order framework for parents to complain to the Secretary of State if they feel that the local authority has acted unreasonably in continuing to enforce a school attendance order. The Secretary of State can in these circumstances make whatever direction he thinks fit. Again, each case would be considered on its merits.
Subjects
Truancy
Date
3 February 2011
Reference
33173; 522 c966-7W
House
House of Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) if he will take steps to discourage extended unauthorised absences from school;
To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) if he will take steps to discourage extended unauthorised absences from school;
Asked by
Baroness Brown of Silvertown
(Labour)
Answered by
Nick Gibb
(Conservative)
Answering body
Department for Education
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
14 December 2010
For answer on
16 December 2010
Answered on
27 January 2011
Good discipline and regular attendance at school is essential to ensure that all pupils can benefit from the opportunities provided by education. It is this Government's intention to restore the authority of teachers and head teachers so they can establish a culture of excellence in their school. School should be a place where there is good behaviour in the classroom, where pupils feel safe, give respect and are respected in turn, and want to come to school to learn.There has been no change to the regulations that govern the amount of family leave that can be granted. The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 state that a pupil may be granted leave of absence from school to enable them to go away on holiday but that, save for exceptional circumstances, they should not be granted more than 10 school days leave of absence in any school year.Head teachers and local councils already have powers to issue penalty notices (fines of £50 to £100) to parents who fail to ensure their children's regular school attendance, which includes taking them on holiday during term time without the school's permission. Alternatively, local councils can prosecute parents under section 444 of the Education Act 1996. If parents are found guilty of the offence the Act provides for heavier sanctions where the parent condoned their children's absence from school, as in the case of taking them out of school on an extended family holiday without permission. The court can fine parents up to £2,500 and or give a prison sentence of up to three months. The parent will also get a criminal record. Prosecutions should be used as a last resort by local councils as in most cases a penalty notice will be a sufficient sanction to deter parents.The Department publishes absence and attainment data for schools as part of the annual Schools Performance Tables. The recently published Primary School (Key Stage 2) Performance Tables included schools overall absence, persistent absence and unauthorised absence data. The Secondary Schools (Key Stage 4) Performance Tables are due for publication in January 2011.Ofsted, as part of their inspection criteria, will also look at trends in a school's absence data when considering school inspections.
Subjects
Truancy
Date
27 January 2011
Reference
31679; 522 c413-4W
House
House of Commons
(3) what analysis he has made of the effect on the level of unauthorised absence from schools of the extension of family leave from 14 to 21 days.
(3) what analysis he has made of the effect on the level of unauthorised absence from schools of the extension of family leave from 14 to 21 days.
Asked by
Baroness Brown of Silvertown
(Labour)
Answered by
Nick Gibb
(Conservative)
Answering body
Department for Education
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
14 December 2010
For answer on
16 December 2010
Answered on
27 January 2011
Good discipline and regular attendance at school is essential to ensure that all pupils can benefit from the opportunities provided by education. It is this Government's intention to restore the authority of teachers and head teachers so they can establish a culture of excellence in their school. School should be a place where there is good behaviour in the classroom, where pupils feel safe, give respect and are respected in turn, and want to come to school to learn.There has been no change to the regulations that govern the amount of family leave that can be granted. The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 state that a pupil may be granted leave of absence from school to enable them to go away on holiday but that, save for exceptional circumstances, they should not be granted more than 10 school days leave of absence in any school year.Head teachers and local councils already have powers to issue penalty notices (fines of £50 to £100) to parents who fail to ensure their children's regular school attendance, which includes taking them on holiday during term time without the school's permission. Alternatively, local councils can prosecute parents under section 444 of the Education Act 1996. If parents are found guilty of the offence the Act provides for heavier sanctions where the parent condoned their children's absence from school, as in the case of taking them out of school on an extended family holiday without permission. The court can fine parents up to £2,500 and or give a prison sentence of up to three months. The parent will also get a criminal record. Prosecutions should be used as a last resort by local councils as in most cases a penalty notice will be a sufficient sanction to deter parents.The Department publishes absence and attainment data for schools as part of the annual Schools Performance Tables. The recently published Primary School (Key Stage 2) Performance Tables included schools overall absence, persistent absence and unauthorised absence data. The Secondary Schools (Key Stage 4) Performance Tables are due for publication in January 2011.Ofsted, as part of their inspection criteria, will also look at trends in a school's absence data when considering school inspections.
Subjects
Truancy
Date
27 January 2011
Reference
31681; 522 c413-4W
House
House of Commons
(2) what assessment he has made of the effect of the extension of family leave on school attainment figures; and whether his Department takes into account family leave absences when assessing school performance;
(2) what assessment he has made of the effect of the extension of family leave on school attainment figures; and whether his Department takes into account family leave absences when assessing school performance;
Asked by
Baroness Brown of Silvertown
(Labour)
Answered by
Nick Gibb
(Conservative)
Answering body
Department for Education
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
14 December 2010
For answer on
16 December 2010
Answered on
27 January 2011
Good discipline and regular attendance at school is essential to ensure that all pupils can benefit from the opportunities provided by education. It is this Government's intention to restore the authority of teachers and head teachers so they can establish a culture of excellence in their school. School should be a place where there is good behaviour in the classroom, where pupils feel safe, give respect and are respected in turn, and want to come to school to learn.There has been no change to the regulations that govern the amount of family leave that can be granted. The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 state that a pupil may be granted leave of absence from school to enable them to go away on holiday but that, save for exceptional circumstances, they should not be granted more than 10 school days leave of absence in any school year.Head teachers and local councils already have powers to issue penalty notices (fines of £50 to £100) to parents who fail to ensure their children's regular school attendance, which includes taking them on holiday during term time without the school's permission. Alternatively, local councils can prosecute parents under section 444 of the Education Act 1996. If parents are found guilty of the offence the Act provides for heavier sanctions where the parent condoned their children's absence from school, as in the case of taking them out of school on an extended family holiday without permission. The court can fine parents up to £2,500 and or give a prison sentence of up to three months. The parent will also get a criminal record. Prosecutions should be used as a last resort by local councils as in most cases a penalty notice will be a sufficient sanction to deter parents.The Department publishes absence and attainment data for schools as part of the annual Schools Performance Tables. The recently published Primary School (Key Stage 2) Performance Tables included schools overall absence, persistent absence and unauthorised absence data. The Secondary Schools (Key Stage 4) Performance Tables are due for publication in January 2011.Ofsted, as part of their inspection criteria, will also look at trends in a school's absence data when considering school inspections.
Subjects
Truancy
Date
27 January 2011
Reference
31680; 522 c413-4W
House
House of Commons