Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure further education colleges take account of students’ disabilities and health conditions when applying attendance requirements.

Further education colleges currently set their own attendance policies, drawing on relevant guidance such as the funding rules. Further education colleges have duties under the Equality Act and the special educational needs and disabilities Code of Practice. This means they should consider the individual circumstances of disabled students and those with health conditions when applying attendance requirements, and put appropriate support and reasonable adjustments in place to enable them to participate fully in education.

The government is investing in support for monitoring attendance in further education so all young people can be supported to have a good level of attendance, recognising that some young people may face a range of barriers to their regular attendance. The department is also working with the sector to identify effective strategies to support attendance and to design a monitoring approach that meets the needs of those using it every day.