In 2016 the DfE amended the legislation to assist schools and local authorities in identifying children missing from education.
The changes require schools (including academies and independent schools) to inform Cambridgeshire County Council when a pupil is about to be deleted from the admissions register under any of the fifteen grounds (Regulation 8 of the 2006 Regulations).
In addition to the above duty to notify the LA, the revised Children Missing Education Guidance also highlights the need for all schools to:
- record details of the pupil’s residence, the name of the person with whom they will reside, the date from which they will reside there, and the name of the destination school (where they can reasonably obtain this information);
- inform their LA of the pupil's destination school and home address if the pupil is moving to a new school.
The changes made emphasis on the requirements for schools and Local Authorities to work collaboratively when making reasonable enquiries to locate pupils who fail to return 10 days after an agreed authorised leave or 20 days without authorisation.
