Included, engaged and involved part 1: promoting and managing school attendance

Extended leave with parental consent

02

Extended leave with parental consent is not to be considered the same as a family holiday. Extended leave with parental consent should be recorded separately outside the figures for attendance and absence, and includes circumstances such as:

extended overseas educational trips not organised by the school

short-term parental placement abroad

family returning to its country of origin (to care for relative, or for cultural reasons)

See 5.5 Diverse school communities for further information.

This will not be included within the Attendance and Absence statistics calculations, either in the numerator or denominator.

Attendance

10

Include:

Attendance at school

Learning outwith the school provided by a college or other learning provider while still on the roll of the school

Educational visits, day and residential visits to outdoor centres

Interviews and visits relating to further and higher education or careers events

Debates, sports, musical or drama activities in conjunction with the school

Study leave for pupils participating in national exams, if arranged by the school during the period of the national examination timetable

Receiving tuition via hospital or outreach teaching services.

Attendance

Late 1: Arrives before 50% of opening

11

Where a child or young person has arrived late but during the first half of the opening, this will be marked as late (L1). This is regardless of whether the lateness is for a valid reason.

See 4.5 Registration and recording lateness for further information.

Attendance

Work experience

12

Include:

Work experience, arranged or agreed by the school

Volunteering, arranged or agreed by the school

Attendance

Sickness with educational provision

13

This may include time spent on sick leave or maternity leave, with parental confirmation or medical certificate, and where adequate educational provision has been made.

Guidance on Education of Children Absent from school through Ill-health. https://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/06/6846

See 4.3 Providing for pupils during long term illness for further information.

Attendance

Sickness with no education provision

20

This would include any time where a pupil is off sick, with parental confirmation or medical certificate, and section 14 of Education (Scotland) Act 1980 is not applicable. See Guidance on Education of Children Absent from school through Ill-health. https://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/06/6846

Authorised

Late 2: Arrives after 50% of opening

21

Where a child or young person has arrived late but during the second half of the opening, then this will be marked as Late (L2). This recording is regardless of whether the lateness is for a valid reason.

For schools using period-by-period registration, any registration in periods beginning in the second half of the opening, without any registration in periods beginning in the first half of the opening, will be converted to an overall L2 code for the opening (even if a later period is subsequently missed).

See 4.4 for further information.

Authorised

Family holidays authorised by school

22

Under exceptional circumstances schools can authorise a family holiday during term time. Such circumstances may include exceptional domestic circumstances, where a parent’s employment is of a nature where school-holiday leave cannot be accommodated (e.g. armed services, emergency services, professions where parents are required to work away from the family for prolonged periods of time).

A family holiday classified under the “authorised absence” category should not include reasons such as:

The availability of cheap holidays

The availability of desired accommodation

Poor weather experienced during school holidays

Holidays which overlap the beginning or end of term

Parental difficulty in obtaining leave

See 6.3 Family holidays during term time for further information.

Authorised

Exceptional domestic circumstances (authorised)

23

This relates to short-term exceptional domestic circumstances. Absences related to short-term exceptional domestic circumstances can be classified as either authorised or unauthorised absence. Authorised absence under this heading covers situations such as:

the period immediately after an accident or illness

a period of serious or critical illness of a close relative

a domestic crisis which causes serious disruption to the family home, causing temporary relocation

See 5.2 for further information.

Authorised

Other authorised absence

24

Includes:

Immediate family weddings

Bereavements

Religious observances

Attendance at court

Attendance at childcare review

Attendance at children’s hearing

Lack of transport – including due to bad weather

Sporting & cultural events not arranged by the school, but approved by them.

See 5.1 for further information.

Authorised

Medical and dental

25

Attendance at medical and dental appointments.

See 5.3 Medical and Dental appointments. For those recording period by period, any opening that contains at least 1 session of attendance will be converted to ‘attendance’ for statistical purposes. For schools with one registration per opening, a medical and dental recording should be recorded as ‘attendance’ if the child or young person attends for any part of the opening, for statistical purposes.

It is assumed that the school will note the fact that the child or young person was not in attendance for the full opening, for legal purposes.

Authorised

Family holidays not authorised by school

30

Family holidays should not be recorded as authorised absence, other than in exceptional circumstances, where a parent’s employment is of a nature where school-holiday leave cannot be accommodated.

A family holiday classified under the “authorised absence” category should not include reasons such as:

• The availability of cheap holidays
• The availability of desired accommodation
• Poor weather experienced during school holidays
• Holidays which overlap the beginning or end of term
• Parental difficulty in obtaining leave

See 6.3 Family holidays during term time for further information.

Unauthorised

Truancy, including unexplained absence

Occasional absence without parental awareness

31

Include all absence for which no adequate explanation has been provided.

See 6 for further information.

Unauthorised

Exceptional domestic circumstances (unauthorised)

32

Under section 14 of the 1980 Act, education authorities must make special arrangements to ensure young people with care responsibilities do not miss out on their entitlement to an education.

If a pupil is unable to attend school due to care responsibilities, there is an expectation that additional support services will be assessed to support the pupil, and their absence from education will not be long‑term and therefore categorised as authorised absence.

However, where additional services have not been accessed by the pupil and care responsibilities become long term, the absence should be categorised as unauthorised absence.

See 4.8 Long–term domestic circumstances for further information.

Unauthorised

Other unauthorised absence

33

Include any other reasons for unauthorised absence: e.g. where a parent is refusing to send their child to school following a dispute with school.

See 6.2 for further information.

Unauthorised

Temporary exclusion

40

Include all pupils excluded from school.

Where a decision has been taken to remove a pupil from the register following an exclusion, the school is not expected to continue to mark the pupil as absent.

For further clarification please refer to the ScotXed Advice Note SXD04/2006 – “Accurate recording of absence of pupils who are excluded from school for a period of time on a ‘temporary’ basis.”

See 3.7 Exclusion from School for further information.

Separate category of absence