School attendance: guide for school staff

This factsheet aims to provide a quick reference for school staff on national attendance policy. It reflects the national guidance provided in Included, Engaged and Involved Part 1 which is under review and will be published by spring 2026.

School attendance definition

Attendance is defined as participation in a programme of educational activities arranged and agreed by the school. 

Further information on the definition of attendance is available in section 2.1 of Included, Engaged and Involved Part 1. 

Authorised absence

There are two types of absence: Authorised Absence and Unauthorised Absence.

Schools may authorise absence when they are satisfied that a valid reason for absence has been provided, usually by the parent or carer (via a note, email or phone call), self-certified or sometimes it may be provided by another service provider.

Further information on authorised absence is available in section 5.1 of Included, Engaged and Involved Part 1. 

Unauthorised absence

Schools should record absence as unauthorised when they perceive that there is no valid reason for the absence provided. 

Further information on unauthorised absence is available in section 6.1 of Included, Engaged and Involved Part 1. 

Term time holiday recording

Family holidays during term time 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. Such employment may include armed services, emergency services, or professions where parents are required to work away from the family for prolonged periods of time.

Further information on holidays during term-time is available in section 6.3 of Included, Engaged and Involved Part 1.

Activities recorded as attendance

Debates, sports, musical or drama activities in conjunction with the school can be considered attendance.

Participation in non-school debates, sports, musical or drama activities agreed by the school can be considered authorised absence.       

Further information is available in section 2.1 and section 5.1 of Included, Engaged and Involved Part 1.

Placing requests

Placing requests cannot be made to establishments which are not schools, for example online learning establishments which are not registered as schools.

Placing requests can be made to a local authority nursery, primary or secondary school.

In addition, where a pupil has additional support needs, a placing request can be made to a special school, independent or grant-aided school.       

Further information is available from Section 1 of Choosing a school: a guide for parents and Choosing the right school - Enquire. 

Recording attendance and absence on SEEMIS

Local authorities agree the codes for the marking of attendance and absence with SEEMIS. The Scottish Government does not determine the codes used by the education authority. The Scottish Government maps the education authority codes into a national framework for the purposes of attendance data presented as part of the national statistics publication.          

Further information is available at Appendix 2 of Included, Engaged and Involved Part 1.

Attendance following request for home education

Where a parent or carer contacts their local authority with a request to withdraw their child from the school roll for the purpose of home education, schools should take a reasonable approach to attendance during the period between the request to withdraw being submitted and the decision being communicated to the family.

Local authorities should aim to issue a decision on consent to withdraw a child from school within 6 weeks of the receipt of the original request.

Further information is available in section 3 of the Home education guidance.