Children Missing Education – Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities and Schools

 

Children Missing Education – Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities and Schools

The Department for Education’s statutory guidance on Children Missing Education (CME) sets out the legal duties placed on local authorities and the expectations for schools in England to ensure that every child of compulsory school age receives a suitable full-time education. Children missing education are those who are not registered at a school and are not receiving suitable education otherwise, for example through approved home education. Identifying and supporting these children is vital because they are at increased risk of harm, exploitation, neglect, disengagement from learning, and poorer long-term life outcomes. Early identification, rapid intervention and strong partnership working are essential principles underpinning the guidance.

Legal duties and safeguarding context

The guidance emphasises the fundamental right of every child to education and the statutory requirement for local authorities to make arrangements to identify, as far as possible, children in their area who are not in receipt of education. This duty sits alongside wider safeguarding legislation, acknowledging that missing education is often a significant indicator that a child may be unsafe, unsupported or vulnerable. Local authorities must therefore take a proactive, investigative role, undertaking reasonable enquiries to establish a child’s educational status and working with parents to ensure suitable provision is secured. Children must not be removed from CME tracking lists until robust enquiries have been completed, or they have been confirmed as receiving appropriate education.

Expectations and duties of Schools

Schools also hold crucial responsibilities. They must maintain accurate admissions registers, record attendance daily and follow up all unexplained absences promptly. Where a child leaves a school without clear transfer information, or when a child fails to start on the agreed date, schools must make initial enquiries and inform the local authority. This process must follow the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations, which specify when and how children’s names can be added to or removed from school rolls. Schools must never remove a child from roll without confirming onward educational arrangements unless authorised through statutory procedures, as unlawful “off-rolling” can place children at considerable risk.

Vulnerable groups at higher risk

Children are more likely to go missing from education when circumstances change or structures fail to track them effectively. Certain groups are recognised as having a heightened risk of becoming CME. These include children with complex needs or SEND whose provision has broken down, pupils in temporary accommodation or living in unstable family situations, children from Gypsy, Roma or Traveller communities who may relocate frequently, and children newly arrived from overseas or seeking asylum. Children who go missing from home or care are also particularly vulnerable, as are those attending unregistered settings. The guidance highlights the importance of robust multi-agency systems to monitor these children and intervene early.

Importance of multi-agency partnership working

The importance of partnership working is threaded throughout the guidance. Local authorities are expected to work closely with schools, early years providers, health services, housing teams, children’s social care, youth justice, voluntary organisations and other local authorities where children move across borders. They should also make appropriate use of national data sources when tracking children whose whereabouts are unknown. Information-sharing protocols and escalation routes must be clear, and all professionals must understand their responsibilities in identifying and referring CME concerns. The duty to safeguard children supersedes data-protection concerns; information can and should be shared when welfare is at risk.

School procedures and responsibilities

Schools should ensure that their internal processes are robust and clearly understood by staff. This includes timely and sensitive follow-up of unexplained absence, home visits when required, and clear documentation of all enquiries and outcomes. Similarly, when a child leaves, the school must not simply accept a parent’s assertion that they will attend another school; reasonable attempts to verify the destination must be made. Schools should also ensure parents understand attendance expectations, particularly at transition points such as nursery to Reception or primary to secondary transfer. Governors and senior leaders need to regularly review attendance data, monitor CME risk, and ensure compliance with statutory duties, making proactive use of data to identify patterns of concern.

Local Authority responsibilities and systems

For local authorities, effective CME management requires systems that are well led, visible and accountable. Having a named CME lead, clear written procedures, a dedicated tracking system and defined timescales for investigation are key. Authorities must support parents in accessing education, particularly with in-year admissions, to minimise time outside of school. They should analyse CME data termly, identify trends, report to senior leaders and safeguarding partners, and ensure learning feeds into local policy and practice development. Authorities must also be prepared to escalate where parents fail to secure education, including issuing school attendance orders where necessary.

Role of Early Years and safeguarding professionals

For early years and safeguarding professionals, including Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs), understanding the link between missing education and wider safeguarding risk is essential. Young children are especially vulnerable, and lapses during early years to school transitions can result in children being lost to the system at a critical developmental stage. Practitioners must therefore maintain close communication with feeder schools and local authority teams, particularly for children with additional needs or unstable home circumstances. Early years settings play a vital role in identifying families who may be struggling or likely to disengage, and DSLs should ensure that robust transition and follow-up processes are embedded.

Training, awareness and staff responsibilities

Training and professional development should make clear that missing education is everyone’s responsibility, not solely the remit of attendance officers or local authority teams. Scenarios and case-studies are useful to help staff recognise risk factors such as sudden family moves, escalating absence, informal exclusions or delay in securing specialist provision. Settings should have clear referral routes and understand how to escalate concerns where a child’s whereabouts become unknown or where safeguarding concerns emerge alongside absence.

Conclusion – CME as a Safeguarding Priority

Ultimately, the statutory guidance makes it clear that missing education is not merely an attendance issue but a safeguarding priority. The duty to ensure children access education sits at the heart of a child-centred, preventative system. Success depends on vigilance, professional curiosity, accurate record-keeping and information-sharing, and the willingness of agencies to work together. For schools and early years providers, embedding robust practice around admissions, attendance, and transitions is essential. For local authorities, strong leadership, systematic tracking and a collaborative approach are vital to ensure no child slips through the net.

 

Resources

School Attendance – (England) https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2024/208/contents

Children Missing in Education - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-missing-education

Children missing education: summary of responsibilities

Children missing education: policy and procedure checklist