Statutory guidance

School behaviour and attendance: parental responsibility measures

Statutory guidance for schools, local authorities and the police on dealing with poor attendance and behaviour in schools.

• From: Department for Education
• Published: 13 November 2013
• Last updated: 29 May 2020, see all updates

• Applies to: England

Documents

School attendance parental responsibility measures: statutory guidance

Ref: DFE-00256-2013 PDF, 291KB, 13 pages

Details

This statutory guidance is for:

• headteachers
• school staff
• governing bodies
• local authorities
• the police (for penalty notices)

It applies to:

• local-authority-maintained schools
• academies and free schools
• pupil referral units (providing education for children who cannot go to a mainstream school)

The guidance provides information on dealing with poor attendance and behaviour in school using:

• parenting contracts
• parenting orders
• penalty notices

These are measures to deal with anti-social behaviour by children and young people.

Statutory guidance is issued by law. You must follow it unless there is a good reason not to.

Published 13 November 2013
Last updated 29 May 2020 + show all updates

1. 29 May 2020

   Updated guidance.

2. 30 April 2020

   Updated to reflect changes made under the Coronavirus Act 2020 concerning school attendance and parental responsibility measures.

3. 5 January 2017

   Reviewed guidance and confirmed it’s up to date. Updated review date.

4. 13 November 2013

   First published.