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Reduced timetables for pupils
Get to grips with reduced timetables (also known as part-time timetables). Find out when you can use them and what you need to consider before, during and after you've introduced them.
Contents
When can we use reduced timetables for pupils?
There must be exceptional circumstances
Because pupils of compulsory school age are entitled to a full-time education, reduced or part-time timetables are only allowed in exceptional circumstances, where:
- There's a specific need for a pupil - for example a medical condition prevents them from attending full-time education and a part-time timetable is part of a planned re-integration
- It's on a temporary basis, stating when they're expected to return to school full time. It must not be a long-term solution
This is explained in Department for Education (DfE) guidance on school attendance, see page 19.
Headteachers must decide what these exceptional circumstances are
The headteacher has to justify:
- Why the pupil isn't able to receive full-time education
- That this decision is in the best interests of the child
The DfE told us this.
A reduced timetable isn’t: A fixed-term exclusion, so you must record it
- Flexi-schooling: guidance
- Improving attendance: audit and tracking sheets
- Improving attendance: strategies and factsheet (secondary)
- Improving the attendance of pupils eligible for pupil premium funding
- Parenting contracts for poor attendance
- Research into how attendance can impact attainment
- Strategies to improve attendance in primary schools
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