His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools raised concerns about “the number of children whose pattern of education is disjointed” in his first annual report.
This seemed to cover pupils who attended school only part-time for whatever reason, including both flexi-schooling and when pupils have particular needs (e.g. medical conditions).
Before September, pupils on part-time timetables china rcs data would have been marked in attendance registers as absent when not attending schools and present when attending.
As we collect attendance data from schools, we had an attempt at estimating the numbers of young people on part-time timetables in June 2023. At that stage, we expected pupils on part-time timetables to be marked as leave of absence for exceptional circumstances (code C) in attendance registers when not at school.
In September, new attendance guidance was introduced which included a new absence code (C2) for leave of absence for compulsory age pupils subject to a part-time timetable.
However, the guidance states that this should only be used to meet individuals’ specific needs (e.g. due to a medical condition) and not when pupils are in full-time education but only attending school part-time (i.e. flexi-schooling arrangements). There is no official guidance for recording sessions when a pupil is being educated out of school but many local authorities suggest using Code C (leave of absence in exceptional circumstances).