School attendance and absence

This guide is for parents of children who live in Wirral. Here you'll find information on schools attendance and absence, and who to contact if you have questions

For all children to gain the greatest benefit from their education it is vital that they attend regularly and be at school, on time, every day that the school is open unless the reason for the absence is unavoidable. Any absence affects the pattern of a child’s schooling and regular absence will seriously affect their learning. You can check your school's attendance policy on their website.

Our responsibility

Although schools are best placed to provide education for the children and young people of Wirral, sometimes there are situations where a child may need additional support above that available from the school. In these situations, we, as the local authority have a duty under Section 19 of the Education Act 1996.  

We work together with schools following guidance from the Department for Education.  

This guide is designed to help you find the right team who can support you if you feel we have a duty under this legislation.   

Your responsibility

Parents are legally responsible for making sure their child receives a suitable full-time education, usually from the age of 5 to 16. Most children and young people receive their education in school. Information on how to apply for a school place can be found on our Schools admissions webpages.

For more information on parental responsibilities and alternative ways in which children may be educated, please refer to the Department for Education’s Guidance for parents on getting your child to school, and the GOV.UK School attendance and absence  guidance for parents. 

There may be reasons a child doesn’t want to go to school. Good school attendance starts with close and productive relationships between schools, parents, and pupils, so it's important schools and families work together.  If you have concerns about your child’s attendance you should contact the school early to seek their advice and support.  

For more information on who to contact, please refer to your school’s attendance policy, this should be available on the school's website, or you can ask the school for a copy.

Understanding school attendance and absence

How are schools required to record absence?

Schools must, by law, take a register at the start of each morning session and once during the afternoon session. Please refer to each school’s individual attendance policy for more details. This should be available on the school's website, or you can ask the school for a copy.

During each registration, schools must record whether each pupil is physically present in school or, if not, the reason they are not in school, and code it according to a national set of codes. These codes determine whether an absence has been authorised or unauthorised. See your school's attendance policy for further clarification. 

What should you do if your child can't attend school?

Each school will outline their specific expectations on reporting absence in their school’s attendance policy.  It is important parents consult this.

For any absences known in advance, such as medical appointments, schools and the council encourage parents to make appointments outside of school hours. Where this is not possible, parents should get the school’s agreement in advance, and the pupil should only be out of school for the minimum amount of time necessary for the appointment. 

For leave of absence (for example, term-time holidays) parents must request and complete, in advance, a leave of absence application form available directly from the school. Requests may or may not be authorised.

Note: schools, local authorities and all relevant partners are required to follow the Working together to improve school attendance - August 2024 statutory guidance. 

The Department for Education also have a  Guide for parents on school attendance which clearly outlines a parent’s responsibilities, including circumstances surrounding illness absence and medical evidence.

Health and your child's education

Visit GOV.UK for information and guidance on illness and your child's education.

If your child is too unwell to attend school

When a child is unable to attend school due to medical reasons normally this can be managed between the school and the parent. Your school should have an attendance policy and you can discuss this with the school directly. 

Absence beyond 15 school days

If your child is too unwell to attend school, and it's likely to be longer than 15 school days, but they are still well enough to receive an education, then we may consider alternative education arrangements to best support your child. Please ask your school to consider a referral to the Access to Education Panel. 

To help us decide the best way to support your child the school may ask you to provide further information from the medical team who support your child.

What is a reduced timetable?

In very exceptional circumstances there may be a need for a temporary part-time timetable to meet a pupil’s individual needs. For example, where a medical condition prevents a pupil from attending full-time education and a part-time timetable is considered as part of a re-integration package. A part-time timetable must not be treated as a long-term solution. 

The parent or carer of the child or young person must agree to the reduced timetable and there should be clear reviews dates and supportive plans in place to ensure the pupil returns to full time learning as soon as possible. 

We ask all Wirral schools to share the details of their pupils on a reduced timetable so that they have oversight and can be ready to discuss the pupil’s education in more detail with the school if the reduced timetable has been in place for an extended period. 

If your child attends a school in another local authority area, we may not always be aware that the school have placed your child on a reduced timetable.

Taking holidays in term time

Improving school attendance is a key priority for all schools across Wirral. Missing school can negatively impact a pupil’s progress and stop them from reaching their true academic potential.

If you feel that there are exceptional circumstances, you should make an application to your child's school. You must get permission from the headteacher if you want to take your child out of school during term time.

You could be fined or face legal action for taking your child out of school during term time without the school’s permission.

Note: Legal action may be taken if a family goes on holiday during term time without the school's permission. Instead of a penalty notice, the case could go directly to the Magistrates for their consideration in court. If found guilty by the Magistrates, parents could each face a fine of up to £2,500 and/or 3 months imprisonment.

Penalty notices

Your child must start full-time education once they reach compulsory school age. This is on 31 December, 31 March or 31 August following their 5th birthday, whichever comes first. If your child’s 5th birthday is on one of those dates, then they reach compulsory school age on that date.

You could be issued with a penalty notice if your child misses school without permission.

Reasons for penalty notices include:

  • Persistent lateness
  • unauthorised absence
  • unauthorised leave of absence (holidays taken without permission) in term time
  • excluded pupils found in a public place during the first 5 days of exclusion

Note: Legal action may be taken if a family goes on holiday during term time without the school's permission. Instead of a penalty notice, the case could go directly to the Magistrates for their consideration in court. If found guilty by the Magistrates, parents could each face a fine of up to £2,500 and/or 3 months imprisonment.

Who should I contact about a penalty notice?

Penalty notice requests are made by schools to the council in which their school is based. For example, a pupil who lives in Cheshire West but attends a Wirral school will receive a penalty notice from Wirral Council. If your child lives in Wirral but attends a school outside of Wirral, you may receive a penalty notice from the council in which your child's school is based. 

When contacting the council about any penalty notice fines that you have received due to school absence, please ensure that you contact the correct council.

How much does a penalty notice cost?

The Department for Education has introduced a new Statutory National Framework, that all schools and local authorities in England must follow from 19 August 2024.

There is now a single consistent national threshold for when a penalty notice must be considered by all schools in England of 10 sessions (usually equivalent to 5 school days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10 school week period. These sessions do not have to be consecutive and can be made up of a combination of any type of unauthorised absence, including lateness.

  • if a penalty notice is issued for an offence of unauthorised absence, the first will attract a fine of up to £160 per pupil, per parent (reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days)
  • a second offence in three years will attract a flat rate fine of £160 per pupil, per parent

Schools and local authorities cannot issue a third penalty notice in 3 years, and must consider other sanctions, which may include prosecution.

Penalty notices are sent by post.

Please speak to the school if you need more information about the new rules.

Fines are payable to Wirral Council. All penalty notice fine payments are retained by Wirral Council and are used for the purposes of administering the local penalty notice scheme.

How to pay

You can pay online:

Wirral MBC Payment Portal - Main Menu

What happens if I don't pay my fine within 28 days?

If you are issued with a penalty notice fine and do not pay by the 28th day deadline, the Wirral Attendance Service will consider taking prosecution action under section 444 Education Act 1996. 

If prosecution action is to be taken, you will receive a summons to appear in the Magistrates’ Court. 

Should you wish to share any additional information with the council, to support their decision-making in your case, please contact the Wirral Attendance Service using the contact details below.

Withdrawal of a penalty notice

A penalty notice can only be withdrawn if it:

  • contains errors
  • is shown that it should not have been issued
  • did not follow the Wirral Code of Conduct for Penalty Notices.

Appeal a penalty notice:

There is no right of appeal against a penalty notice. Contact your child's school if you think a penalty notice should not have been issued.

Children with anxiety or behavioural issues

Some children struggle with attendance due to anxiety.  This is called Emotional-based School Avoidance. It is important to discuss this issue with the school and work together to make it easier for your child to attend.

Visit Wired - Wirral SEND Partnership for advice and guidance on how to help your child cope at school.

Wirral schools can also contact the Inclusion Team if they are struggling to include a child or young person in their school community due to behavioural or medical issues. 

Children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND)

If you feel your child’s attendance difficulties are a result of their special educational need or disability, speak to the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) at the school. They should be able to support you and your child.

If your child is having attendance difficulties and an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA) is underway:

  • speak to the SENCO and discuss what support can be put in place to help your child attend school during the assessment
  • let your EHCP Co-ordinator know and include them in meetings and conversations around support for your child

If your child is having attendance difficulties and has an EHCP, it is important to let your EHCP Co-ordinator know. This includes if your child:

  • is unable to attend school for more than 15 days because of ongoing medical conditions, physical or mental health issues
  • has low attendance because of Emotionally-Based School Avoidance (EBSA)
  • attends a school outside of Wirral

The EHCP Co-ordinator can support in discussions around:

  • next steps
  • the temporary support needed 

Getting in touch with the EHCP Co-ordinator

The contact details for your EHCP Co-ordinator is at the top of any letter they have sent you..

More information is available on the SENDLO Wirral website.

Children with a social worker or in care

The council has specific responsibilities to oversee the attendance patterns of children who have, or have had, an allocated social worker and also those children who are in care.

Children with a social worker

If your child:

  • has an allocated social worker
  • is previously looked after
  • previously had a social worker
  • is in a kinship arrangement 

and you are concerned about school attendance patterns, please contact your child’s school or your child’s social worker to discuss what support may be available to enable your child to improve their engagement with their education. Schools and social workers are able to contact the Wirral Virtual School or Wirral Attendance Service directly to access advice, support or training.

Children in care

If your child is in care and is not attending school regularly, the council has increased responsibilities and powers to work with relevant partners to remove any known barriers to regular attendance. Find more information and guidance about children in care and the specific role of the Wirral Virtual School for Children Looked After on our website.

Children missing from education

Children missing from education are children of compulsory school age:

  • who do not have a school place
  • whose parents have not applied for a school place
  • who are not receiving a suitable education in any other way

Children are not missing from education if they:

  • have a school place but aren’t attending regularly
  • are being educated at home

Refer a child missing from education

Let us know if you think a child is missing from education. You can stay anonymous and we will carry out checks before contacting the parents or carers. 

Contact the Children Missing from Education Team:

Office hours:

Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, although our CME Lead only works part-time.

Contact us

We have several teams who deal with a variety of issues relating to children and young people's attendance or absence from school.

Choose from the following team to contact us:

Support for children who do not have a school place or are not receiving education:

Ensuring Wirral Council's statutory responsibilities are fulfilled, for example penalty notices and prosecutions:

For all other queries about school attendance and absence: