Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to review the Working Together to Improve School Attendance guidance and the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024 to clarify why pupils receiving live online lessons from DfE-accredited providers must still be recorded using an absence code, and if she will assess the potential impact of this requirement on a school's published attendance metrics.

Pupils who are absent from school but receive remote education must still be recorded as absent using the most appropriate absence code. The attendance register is a legal record of whether pupils are physically present at school, and helps schools and local authorities understand the reasons why a pupil cannot attend so that appropriate support and reasonable adjustments can be put in place. This longstanding position predates the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024.

The department is clear that regular physical attendance at school is in the best interests of the vast majority of pupils. Attending school is about more than receiving lessons: it enables pupils to learn alongside their peers, build relationships, benefit from wider school life and access pastoral and other support. It also helps schools keep children safe and identify where pupils need additional support.

Remote education should therefore only be considered as a last resort where a decision has already been made that attendance at school is not possible, even with reasonable adjustments.

Even though remote education is not counted within school attendance data, schools can keep a separate record of pupils' participation in remote education activity for their records.