Removal from roll
All schools have to comply with certain regulations if they want to take a child off roll.
For example;
- your child has transferred to a new school
- you have moved house and have stopped sending your child to the school due to the distance (this must be more than 6000 metres for primary school age children from the new address to the school and 7000 metres for secondary age pupils)
- your child was dual registered at two schools and one school has ended the placement
- your child has been permanently excluded
- you took your child on long term an unauthorised leave of absence without authorisation from the school, you didn’t keep in contact with the school and your child was therefore reported as ‘missing’ to the local authority.
Even if you no longer want your child to attend their school, if they are of compulsory school age (age 5 to 16) they cannot be removed from roll, even if you have asked the school to do so.
The circumstances of the removal (called a ‘deletion from roll’ in law) have to comply with the regulations, otherwise your child must stay on roll and any absences could be unauthorised.
If you are concerned that your child’s school has taken your child off the school roll outside of these regulations, you can raise your concerns by emailing the Education Legal Intervention Team
You must include your name, your child’s name, your address, your contact details and the name of the school in question.
You must also include full details of the circumstances of the removal from roll.
Email the Education Legal Intervention Team
Page last updated: 23 August 2024
