School attendance FAQs

The law says that children and young people have the right to receive an education from when they reach school age (usually when they’re 4 and a half or 5 years old) until they turn 16. 

As a parent or carer, it’s up to you how your child is educated. You can send them to a school run by your local authority or an independent school, or you can choose to educate them at home. 

If you decide to send your child to school, it’s important that they attend regularly, unless there’s a valid reason for them to be off. 

If your child goes to a school run by the local authority, they’ll usually attend the school in their local area (their ‘catchment’ school). However, you can ask for them to go to another school if you want to. This is called making a placing request. You can make a placing request to any school run by a local authority. If your child has additional support needs, you can also make a placing request to a special school, an independent school or a grant-aided school. However, you can’t make a placing request to an online school or learning centre. 

You can find out more about choosing a school from the Scottish Government website and Enquire.

School attendance means taking part in educational activities that have been planned and agreed by the school. So as well as going into school it includes things like:   

• educational visits and school trips
• attending some classes at college or another education service
• going to interviews and visits linked to further and higher education or careers events
• taking part in events organised with the school, like debates and sports, music, dance or drama activities
• being on study leave when they’re sitting their national exams
• getting tuition in hospital or from other outreach teaching services
• taking part in work experience.

If you know your child is going to be absent, you should let the school know as soon as possible. You can usually find out information on how to contact the school to let them know that your child is going to be absent in the school handbook or on their website. 

You should tell them the reason for your child’s absence and how long you think they will be off for, if you know this. You should keep the school updated while your child is off and let them know if anything changes. 

Your child may be absent from school for a variety of reasons, for example if:

• they’re ill or going to a medical and dental appointment
• they’re taking part in a religious event
• they need time off to cope with a bereavement
• they’re going to the wedding or funeral of a close friend or family member
• they’re coping with significant family trauma or distress
• you’re snowed in or your child can’t get into school because of other weather reasons
• they’re taking part in a debate or sports, drama, music or dance event that’s not organised by the school, but that you’ve agreed with the school in advance
• they need to attend meetings or appointments linked to a Children’s Hearing, a Care Review or other legal matters. 

If you’re child is off for one of these reasons, the school would usually record their absence as authorised. 

If your child’s school doesn’t think the reason for their absence is valid, they’ll record it as an unauthorised absence. 

This could be the case if:

• you don’t let the school know why your child is absent
• you’re going on a family holiday during term-time
• your child has been skipping school without your knowledge.
• your child has been off for a long time because of issues related to school, like bullying or school anxiety
• your child has been off for a long time because of issues at home or in the wider community
• your child has been absent because of drug or alcohol issues.

You can find out more about these situations below.

If you’ve seen a great deal on flights or accommodation it can be really tempting to book a family holiday in term-time. Or there may be other reasons to take time off during school time. However, the school will record this type of absence as unauthorised unless there are special circumstances. This may be the case if you can’t take time off during school holidays, for example, if you work in the armed forces, emergency services or have another job where you need to work away from your family for long periods of time. 

If you do decide to take a holiday during term-time, the best thing to do is get in touch with the school and explain why you need to do this. 

If your child has been skipping school without your knowledge, it’s important to talk to them about it as soon as you can. Try to stay calm and encourage them to explain why they haven’t been going in, so you can help. 

Our pages on setting rules and consequences and peer pressure have information to help if your child is skipping school because they’re pushing boundaries or want to fit in with their friends.

It can be really worrying if you child is unable to attend school, especially if it’s over a long period of time. But it's important to remember that you don’t have to face this alone. School staff can work with you and your child to understand the issue and work out a solution together. So, if your child feels they can’t go in because of something that’s affecting them there, like bullying or because they’re struggling with their work, you should speak to a member of school staff as soon as possible. 

• If your child has additional support needs, you can find out more about the support they’re entitled to on our additional support for learning page.
• If they’re having problems with their friends this page may help younger children and you can find advice for teens here.
• If you’re worried that your child is being bullied, our section on bullying has lots of advice to help.
• Our page on emotionally-based school avoidance can help if your child is skipping school because they feel too anxious to go in.
• Our page on talking to your child about alcohol or drugs can help if this is the reason your child is off school.

If there are issues at home or in the community that are affecting your child being able to go to school, you should speak to school staff about this. They might be able to offer some extra help or direct you to other organisations or services who can provide support. You may be able to find help someone to help in our Family Support Directory as well. 

Schools use an online system to record information about children and young people at school. This system uses different codes to record different types of attendance and absence. Schools and local authorities can use this information to look more closely at absence and help deal with any concerns.

You have the right to know details about your child’s attendance and absence. Some schools send this information out at different times during the school year, but you can ask to see it at any time. Speak to a member of school staff if you want to find out more information about this.  

You can find out more about how absence is recorded from the Scottish Government’s guidance on school attendance.  

Some parents choose to home educate their child rather than sending them to school. If you’re thinking about home educating your child, and they already attend a local authority school, you’ll need to ask for the local authority’s permission to withdraw them from school. They’ll ask you to explain how you plan to provide a suitable education for your child. 

Local authorities will assess your request for home education and usually let you know their decision within 6 weeks. During this time, if your child can't go in, you should talk to the school about how you can support them together. 

You can find out further information on our home education page and from the Scottish Government’s guidance on home education.