Ensuring Children's Right to Education - guidance on the legal measures available to secure regular school attendance

This guidance explains the roles and responsibilities of parents, schools and the local authority in ensuring children’s regular school attendance, and the law relating to school attendance

It also discusses the range of legal interventions available to the authority and, in some circumstances, to the school to enforce school attendance.

The document describes the procedure for bringing a prosecution against a parent who has failed to ensure their child’s regular school attendance, and explains what happens at the Court hearing and the sentencing options available to the Court in the event that the parent is found guilty of an offence.

This guidance replaces the 2003 edition, and is part of a suite of documents on managing attendance all of which are available from the website below.

Visit the Behaviour and Attendance website