Notifying the Local Authority about Children Missing Education (CME)
Schools must notify the local authority of all children who are added and removed from the school roll within a specific time. This was a key amendment to the CME statutory guidance (2016) and reiterated in Working Together to Improve School Attendance (2024).
The flow of pupil information is transferred between the councils, schools, and academies electronically on a regular basis through information management protocols and processes.
In accordance with regulation 13(1) to (3), a school must make a return to the local authority within 5 days of adding a pupil’s name to the admission register (a New Pupil Return) and must provide the local authority with all the information held within the admission register about the pupil.
In accordance with regulation 13(4) to (6), a school must make a return to the local authority when a pupil’s name is deleted from the admission register (a Deletion Return).
Working Together to Improve Attendance (DFE 2024).
To read the full Children Missing Education Policy, please click here.
