The guidance sets out what schools, governing bodies and local authorities are expected to do to improve attendance, and how the registers must be kept. Schools, trusts, governing bodies and local authorities must have regard to it (paragraph 1). It applies to maintained schools, academies and independent schools, and is issued under several laws, including section 175 of the Education Act 2002.
Its chapters cover:
- the law on attendance and every child's right to a full-time education (chapter 1)
- expectations of schools, including an attendance policy, a senior attendance champion, first-day follow-up and part-time timetables (chapter 2)
- governing bodies and local authorities (chapters 3 and 4)
- persistent and severe absence (chapter 5)
- legal intervention: attendance contracts, education supervision orders, prosecution, parenting orders and the national framework for penalty notices (chapter 6)
- the admission register and the grounds for removal from roll (chapter 7)
- the attendance register and every attendance code (chapter 8)
The July 2026 edition, published on 9 July 2026, made technical clarifications rather than policy changes: taking the register at the same time for all pupils, benchmarking and young carers, illness absence, exceptional leave, and when codes Q, D, Y6 and U apply (paragraph 5). The fines rules are unchanged.
It should be read alongside KCSIE and the children missing education guidance (paragraph 2).