If your child has particularly poor attendance, it is classed as persistent absence. Attendance below 90% is classed as persistent absence and this means your child missing 19 or more days during the academic year. This is roughly equivalent to your child missing 1 day or more every 2 weeks, or around 6 days each term. 

It’s helpful for you to think about your child’s attendance in terms of days, and make sure they are not missing too many days. Average attendance across the country is children missing no more than 10 days in the year. 

Once a child has reached 38 sessions, or 19 days absence, they will be classified as Persistently Absent from school.  Our Family Liaison Attendance Officer will contact you and invite you into a meeting to understand the reason behinds your child’s absences and to identify what support we can offer you and your child to improve their attendance. 

Under the Education Act 1996, the Local Authority has a statutory responsibility to ensure that parents secure education for children of compulsory school age and where necessary, use legal enforcement.  

This information below shows how many days missed each half–term will make your child a PA pupil: