Attendance remains a national priority, and the Department for Education's guidance, Working together to improve school attendance, became statutory in August 2024. It sets clear expectations for how schools monitor attendance, intervene early and work with families and local authorities.
The two thresholds
- Persistent absence: a pupil who misses 10% or more of their possible sessions. Roughly, that is one day every two weeks.
- Severe absence: a pupil who misses 50% or more of their possible sessions, meaning they are absent more than they are present.
Both are measured against possible sessions, so a pupil who has missed only a handful of days early in the autumn term can already be persistently absent.
What the guidance expects
The guidance asks schools to treat attendance as everyone's business, led by a senior attendance champion, and to:
- monitor attendance data regularly, at pupil, group and whole-school level, so patterns are spotted early;
- follow up absence promptly and work with families to understand and remove the barriers behind it;
- put support in place, often formalised in an attendance plan, before considering any legal intervention;
- work with the local authority and other services where pupils need more help.
Penalty notices
The national framework for penalty notices sets a threshold of 10 sessions of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10 school weeks as the point at which a penalty notice must be considered. Considering a notice is not the same as issuing one: schools and local authorities are expected to look first at whether support is more appropriate, particularly where a pupil has SEND or there are wider family needs.
Supporting pupils with SEND
Pupils with SEND are more likely to be persistently absent, and the reasons are often linked to their needs: anxiety, medical appointments, sensory overload or a mismatch between their needs and their provision. The guidance expects schools to make reasonable adjustments and to work with families to understand these barriers.
Useful approaches include:
- Look at the pattern, not just the percentage. Absence concentrated on particular days, sessions or lessons often points to a specific trigger.
- Separate medical absence from other absence when you analyse the data, so you can see what is within the school's influence.
- Agree a support plan with the family, with clear, achievable steps and a date to review it.
- Use part-time timetables only as a short-term measure, agreed with parents and reviewed regularly, with a clear plan to return to full-time education.
- Celebrate improvement, not only full attendance. A pupil moving from 70% to 85% has made real progress.
Quick checklist
- Attendance data is reviewed at least weekly, including by pupil group.
- Pupils approaching 90% attendance are identified before they become persistently absent.
- Every persistently absent pupil has a named lead and a support plan.
- Absence patterns are discussed with families as prompts for a conversation, not conclusions.
- Penalty notice decisions follow the national framework and consider SEND and wider needs first.
Sources
General guidance for school staff, last reviewed 22 October 2026. Always check the latest statutory guidance on GOV.UK.