Marked absent if late new regulations

[MrsRobins]

So I received a message from school yesterday that if a child is late they will now be marked absent for the morning with a U code, in line with new regulations, I have tried to find this on gov site but still not came across it, surly this will only result in children not wanting to go in because they will be marked absent anyway, especially the older kids, I don’t see how this is going to be helpful at all, especially for this only 5 mins late, it doesn’t make sense to me.

Thank you Endless. I'm relieved to know there is some sanity in this. Also good to know there is a separate code. As a one off, I'm happy to let it go, but I'd be more inclined to have a word over repeated errors.

@Citrusandginger lates after the register had closed would still be marked as code U. I was using the comparison to code Y1 for unavoidable absences due to transport is authorised to show it is unlikely you would be fined for lates (rather than absences) in that scenario.

U code doesn't mean someone is absent, it means they arrived after the register closed.

Should schools keep their registers open until later?
In terms of safeguarding & fire safety etc it's preferable to get them closed asap!

"Late after register closed" was always counted as an absence for the statistics, although the code in the register was different from either "late before register closed" or "absent". Some schools kept the register "open" until halfway through the first lesson, to reduce absence rates!
The safeguarding/fire risk can be avoided provided the late-sign-in book or equivalent is taken out to any fire-drills.

9am arrival = registers already done and you’re late. Late mark
9:30am = U. Worryingly late. This will be monitored.
New Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance. Nothing new, just making it very clear that persistent lateness/absence is unacceptable and is often an indicator or wider problems in the home.

It seems odd to be treated as 'absence' rather than 'late' though. Do you know the logic behind this? Is this counted amongst reported unauthorised absence figures?

Excellent point

I think it’s part of the crackdown on persistent absence/lateness. If being late counts as an absence, they can fine parents for it (and fines have just got more expensive and will be doled out more easily). I guess the logic is this might make parents get their kids to school on time?

(Not saying I agree with any of the above by the way!)

Yes, it's counted as a type of unauthorised absence.

An L mark is also a type of late mark, but it is used before the AM reg closes, and that is counted as present.

I think they are trying to make clear that being so late you miss all or part of a lesson or multiple lessons is materially different to being a few minutes late for registration.

A U mark has always been counted as absence for statistical purposes, but I think they are just trying to ram the point home.

It's not a good idea to mark pupils absent in the first lesson if they are late

My son goes to an intervention group 1 morning and their cover teacher marked him absent on the register by mistake, so the years Learning manager came to my house and told me he wasn't in school and I hadn't called in absence

Of course, I'm panicking, he's missing, because we only live five minutes from the school and I saw him going (work from home)

He was year seven at the time, and I was really alarmed until she went back to the school and said oh sorry he's where he should be. We've made a mistake

@SuncreamAndIceCream thanks.

Why not just have a code for very late then? There could well be different underlying reasons for persistent lateness than persistent absence. Seems daft to lump as same if actually trying to effect positive change.

Some firms used to dock wages for the whole morning if you were late, which encouraged people to call in sick instead if they were running late.

If someone is there before registration ends, they're still marked as late? Why?

@whatsinanameeh that is not a problem with registering those who are late as late (either code L if late but arrive before the register closes which counts as attending for statistics or U if after the register has closed which counts as an unauthorised absence for statistics). That is a problem with how your school registers those attending interventions.

@sunhasgotthis there is a code for late after the register has closed (code U). For statistical purposes, that code is counted as unauthorised absence.

You're misunderstanding the guidance. If they arrive after the register closes, they will receive a U session mark but will be marked present in the period. They are therefore included on the fire list and will have a session absence recorded.

@sunhasgotthis a lot of this isn't really aimed at parents who look after their children well and have a bad day once in a blue moon and arrive at 9:20 apologetic and sweaty.

Absence is one of the most important pieces of info for safeguarding. Repeated lateness and being very late will get the pastoral team to take a closer look at what is going on for that child or family. Unless a child is in school, staff don't know that they are OK. Form time is really helpful for those kinds of conversations & being able to interact with the children in a more relaxed way than lesson time. Someone repeatedly missing form is a flag - are they being bullied, are they having transport, sleep, family issues etc etc

You're misunderstanding op's post - her school are saying the DC will be marked as absent instead of late - U (in my school) was unauthorised absence, not L for late or X for absent.

Any child who is on site should be marked present, not absent, however it is categorised.

Once again, if a child is absent it is a chunky process to chase the reason why (and in some cases sending attendance staff on home visits - yes, our school was mentally on top of this due to legit safeguarding reasons in catchment). I bet my house that they won't be chasing kids with an unauthorised absence due to - you know - actually being in school. Which rather makes a mockery of them being so finickity about their attendance processes if the ACTUAL absentees are getting the same follow up (ie not)

Which is correct - U is late after the register closed and regarded as a session absence.

X is attendance not legally required and isn't either an absence or presence, it's a 'shouldn't be here in any case'.

I wonder how long until people start arguing about the 7 Y codes and whether their cousin's aunt's wedding counts as a religious observation or not.

A 'U' code doesn't mean your child isn't in school. It means a student arrived late and after the register closed, which is considered an unauthorised absence.

I asked the question upthread about what would happen if a parent challenged a fine for unauthorised absence in court because it had actually been imposed for lateness?

A poster kindly explained that DD's issues with her contract bus would be unlikely to cause an issue under the new rules, but I'd still be interested to hear a legal view about how a fine for absence could be upheld if the child was actually present for 95% of the session.

On our system a U is unauthorised absence. If they actually make it into registration then they must be marked present in some way surely, what I'd the fire alarm goes off? They need an accurate record of who is in the building. I can only assume they have a different code for not present at all and this is about tracking lateness for sanctions.

@WonderingWanda U is late after registration has closed. The school still knows they are on site. It is not the same code as when a pupil is not on site.

If a pupil is late but arrives before the register is closed, code L is used.

You should try reading them yourself. This wildly misstates the new rules.

A fine is considered if a child has more than 5 days unauthorised absence within a 10-week period. A second fine within a three-year period attracts a higher fine. There is no "sickness once in 10 weeks" limit. Absence for sickness is not counted as unauthorised so does not attract a fine.

The misunderstanding is yours.

As many posters have explained, whilst U is classed as unauthorised absence it means that the pupil missed registration but is on site. L means the pupil was late but arrived before the end of registration and is not counted as absence.

The codes for unauthorised absence are:

G - absent without leave for a holiday
N - absent in circumstances not yet established
O - absent in other circumstances
U - absent at registration but arrived later

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf300da44f1c4c23e5bd1b/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance_-_August_2024.pdf

I have attached the latest guidance - see Chapter 8 for code definitions. I don't think the codes themselves have changed as they are defined in secondary legislation (regulations).

Speaking as both the attendance and safeguarding lead at a secondary, the misinformation earlier in this thread is making me want to pull my hair out.

A U code for arriving 30 mins after registration closes is not a new thing. The U code being considered unauthorised absence (for the period of time the child wasn't in school, recognising that a U code means they are now present) also isn't new.

The new thing is the 10 sessions absent in 10 weeks threshold.

How safeguarding comes into this hasn’t changed. Its never been a fire safety issue. But frequent U marks would be a safeguarding flag for a parent needing some additional support. It makes the DSL in me question the routines and boundaries in the home, and at worse it could be an indication of harm to the child. In any referral to children's services being made, if a child had regular U codes it would be something mentioned in the referral. This again is not new.

So if my child is going to be late and going to marked absent she may as well enjoy a day off and be marked absent.
She'll be delighted.