The short answers
Do schools have to have an attendance policy?
Yes. The DfE's statutory guidance expects every school to have a clear, written attendance policy based on the guidance, published on the school's website, sent to parents when a pupil joins, and brought to their attention at the start of each school year and whenever it changes.
What should a school attendance policy include?
As a minimum: attendance and punctuality expectations, including the start of the day and register closing times; how to request leave and report an absence; the senior attendance champion's name and contact details; who parents contact day to day and for more detailed support; the school's processes such as first-day calling; how good attendance is promoted; how data is used to target support; the strategy for persistent and severe absence; and the national framework for penalty notices and when legal steps would be considered.
How often should an attendance policy be reviewed?
The guidance does not set a fixed interval. It says the policy should be reviewed and updated as needed, because barriers to attendance change quickly, and that schools should seek the views of pupils and parents when they do.
Can an attendance policy treat every pupil the same?
It should be applied fairly and consistently, but the guidance asks schools to take account of the needs of pupils and families with specific barriers to attendance, and to consider their obligations under the Equality Act 2010.
A checklist for your policy
The minimum the DfE's guidance asks for, in the order a parent would need it.
The school day
The start and end of the day, and when the registers close.
Reporting and requesting
How to tell the school the reason for an unexpected absence, and how to request a leave of absence.
Who to contact
The senior attendance champion's name and contact details, the day-to-day contact such as a form tutor or attendance officer, and who to go to for more detailed support.
How the school follows up
First-day calling and the steps that follow when an absence is not explained.
Promoting good attendance
How the school encourages and recognises good and improving attendance.
Using data
How the school uses its attendance data to target support at the pupils and groups who need it most.
Persistent and severe absence
The strategy for reducing it, how wider support is reached, and when support is formalised with the local authority.
Penalty notices
The national framework, and when a notice to improve, a penalty notice or other legal step would be sought because support was not appropriate, not successful or not engaged with.
Where this comes from
- Working together to improve school attendanceThe DfE's statutory guidance, 2026 edition: what schools, trusts and local authorities are expected to do.
Related guides: the senior attendance champion, the ten-week duty, unauthorised and authorised absence. Every guide is listed on the guides page.
The data your policy says you use
A policy that says the school uses its data to target support needs data that can be used that way. adsum turns the exports your MIS already produces into the lists and comparisons the policy describes, week by week.
Or ask us for a trial on your own school's data.