Practical Law Public Sector addresses the questions that schools may ask local authorities regarding day-to-day school management and sets out the legal issues to consider when responding:
This FAQ examines a local education authority’s responsibilities where a pupil is absent on long-term sick leave. For all our school hotline queries, please see Practice note, Schools hotline FAQs.
Q: Jenny is absent from school on long-term sick leave. What are the local authority’s responsibilities in this situation?
A: The local education authority (LA) should firstly check with the school and/or Jenny, to clarify that the reason for absence is illness and to check that the absence was or should have been authorised. The Department for Education (DfE) has emphasised that it and Ofsted will allow for genuine absences due to long-term health problems (DfE: Reducing absence – ensuring schools intervene earlier: pupils with long-term sickness (July 2011)).
If Jenny’s long-term absence is due to ill-health and has been authorised, then the LA must:
- Arrange educational provision for her, if she would not otherwise receive a suitable full-time education. (The LA’s duty to provide Jenny with suitable education will not apply if it considers that she is already receiving a suitable education that meets her needs without its intervention (for example, where her school has already arranged to provide her with suitable home education).)
- Have regard to the relevant DfE guidance: see GOV.UK: Ensuring a good education for children who cannot attend school because of health needs (January 2013).
- Have a senior officer in charge of the arrangements and a written policy explaining how the LA will meet these responsibilities.
The LA must also make sure that Jenny receives as normal an education as possible, including arranging home or hospital teaching, or a combination of both. The LA is responsible for making sure that Jenny:
- Is not without access to education for more than 15 working days.
- Has access to education from the start of her absence if it is clear that she is going to be away from school for long and recurring periods.
- Gets an education of similar quality to that in school.
- Gets her minimum entitlement of five hours teaching per week, for as long as her health allows.