You are here:
Pupil term-time absence: what you need to know
Term-time absences can only be granted in 'exceptional circumstances'. Know what factors you need to consider when deciding whether a circumstance is 'exceptional' and making a judgement around how long the pupil needs to be away from school.
Contents
Headteachers can only grant term-time absences in 'exceptional circumstances'
From time to time you will receive requests for the term-time absence of your pupils. You can only grant a leave of absence during term-time if you consider there to be 'exceptional circumstances' that warrant this.
Any requests for term-time absence must be made in advance. If the parents didn’t apply for the leave of absence in advance, you must record the absence as unauthorised.
This is set out in the DfE's non-statutory advice on school attendance.
What constitutes an 'exceptional circumstance'?
You must decide whether an absence request constitutes an 'exceptional circumstance' based on the individual circumstances and the relevant context behind the request.
You'll still need to respond to requests on a case-by-case basis, but you can set out examples of the sorts of exceptional circumstances you
More from The Key
Bitesize training with a big impact
Our on-demand training has your whole board covered and lets them learn at a time and pace that suits them.
Help your new governors hit the ground running with our expertly-designed induction training, and our role-specific courses support your link governors develop key skills and confidence in their role.
New eLearning: DSL refresher training
Your DSL’s training should be refreshed at least once every 2 years.
Designed in collaboration with safeguarding experts, our 2.5 hour online refresher training course reminds DSLs how to put their knowledge into practice, with in-depth, real-world scenarios.
- Need-to-know: DfE publishes new statutory guidance on the cost of school uniform 19 Nov 2021 08:51
- Need-to-know: STPCD 2021 published 4 Oct 2021 10:30
- In the news: Your weekly round-up for 20 to 27 August 2021 27 Aug 2021 08:00
- In the news: Your weekly round-up for 6 to 13 August 2021 13 Aug 2021 08:00
- In the news: Your weekly round-up for 30 July to 6 August 2021 6 Aug 2021 08:00
The Key has taken great care in publishing this article. However, some of the article's content and information may come from or link to third party sources whose quality, relevance, accuracy, completeness, currency and reliability we do not guarantee. Accordingly, we will not be held liable for any use of or reliance placed on this article's content or the links or downloads it provides. This article may contain information sourced from public sector bodies and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.