Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of children who have been off-rolled in each of the last two years; and if he will make a statement.

The Department does not hold information centrally on the number of pupils who have been officially taken off roll by schools. Local authorities have a duty to make arrangements to establish the identities of children of compulsory school age in their area who are not registered pupils at a school and are not otherwise receiving suitable education.

The law is clear that a pupil’s name can only be deleted from the admission register on the grounds prescribed in regulation 8 of the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 as amended. All schools must notify the local authority when a pupil’s name is to be deleted from the admission register under any of the grounds prescribed in regulation 8.