Regulation 9 regulates the removal of children from roll, and a summary of the regulations were presented during our
attendance network meeting in March 2024. Chapter 7 (page 62) of
Working Together to Improve School Attendance
provides more detailed guidance on the keeping of the attendance registers and the off-rolling of children.
A pupil’s name can only be deleted from the admission register for a reason set out in regulation 9 of the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024. When any of the situations set out in regulation 9 occurs, the pupil’s name must
be deleted. A pupil’s name must not be removed for any other reason and doing so could constitute off-rolling. Schools should seek legal advice if they unsure on whether they meet the grounds for removal.
In accordance with regulation 13(4) to (6), a school must make a return to the local authority when a pupil’s name is deleted from the admission register (a Deletion Return). This does not apply where the pupil’s name is deleted at or after
the end of the last term of the school year when they are in the school’s most senior class (for example, pupils who leave primary school at the end of Year 6)
A school cannot retrospectively delete a pupil’s name from the admission register or attendance register.
Bradford Schools Online provides further information on this.