Parents Advised of Changes to Persistent Absence Criteria

Pupils who miss more than 19 days of school during the forthcoming academic year will be classed as being persistently absent from the classroom under new government guidelines.

The Department for Education has announced that the threshold for persistent absence will reduce from 15% to 10% from this month.

Under the previous threshold, pupils had to be absent from school for 28 days or more to be described as being persistently absent from school.

A child is classed as persistently absent regardless of whether the time off school is authorised or not. However, parents are advised to supply medical evidence if a child has a prolonged absence due to illness.

Swindon’s persistent absence rate is below the national average for both primary and secondary aged children. Despite this, Swindon Borough Council works with schools to continually improve attendance levels.

As well as conducting truancy patrols, the council’s Education Welfare team work closely with families to encourage good school attendance. This includes providing support to help overcome any barriers to learning and signposting children and families to specialist services.

If persistent absence continues to be an issue, parents could be issued with a fixed Penalty Notice which is £60 if paid within 21 days or £120 if paid within 28 days. Parents could also face prosecution through the courts and given a fine of up to £2,500 or face 3 months in prison.

Cllr Fionuala Foley, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said: “Education is so precious, which is why we need to do as much as we possibly can to improve attendance rates in all schools.

“Our persistent absence figures are better than the national average, but that does not mean that we will stop in our efforts to improve attendance in Swindon still further.

“I welcome the Government’s change in the persistent absence threshold and I would like to urge parents to do all that they can to ensure their children’s attendance rates are as high as possible.”