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 Peterborough City 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 new school (where they can reasonably obtain this information);
inform their LA of the pupil's new school and home address if the pupil is moving to a new school by completing the Leaving City Form (LCF).

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.

What schools / professionals need to do - Referrals and Notifications to the LA

Confirmation of Pupil’s whereabouts:

If you are aware of the pupil’s whereabouts and have confirmation of the new educational placement and that the pupil has started the new provision, the school is required to complete the online form below.

Leaving City form

This includes instances where a pupil has relocated abroad and you have no reason to disbelieve the parents/carers. Whilst we acknowledge it is best practice to obtain a fixed address and/or school name, we recognise that this may not always be possible:

Unknown pupil’s destination/family’s whereabouts

In all other cases where a school/professional is unaware of a pupil/family’s whereabouts– this also includes those pupils who fail to transfer to statutory education from nursery school, the school has made initial investigation to the pupil’s whereabouts, including a home visit. If a pupil is deemed vulnerable then the referral should be made immediately. Schools are required to complete online form below:

Request for Children Missing Education Investigation: CME referral form