Before term starts, check that your electronic register uses the national codes in force, opens and closes consistently, reflects the admission register and has a named route for correcting unexplained or inaccurate marks.
Do not start with percentages. Sample the sessions that create them: present, late, off site, sessions where attendance isn't required, authorised absence, unauthorised absence and planned closure.
This checklist applies to schools in England and is current to 11 August 2026. A register mark records a session; it does not diagnose a barrier, prove harm, assign blame or trigger an automatic referral, sanction, penalty notice or legal route.
Why run the check before September?
The Department for Education updated its statutory attendance guidance on 9 July 2026. The edition adds technical clarifications on taking the register at the same time for all pupils and on codes including Q, D, Y6 and U.
The national code set introduced in August 2024 remains the working set. Summer is a useful moment to remove old local shorthand, test MIS defaults and agree who resolves exceptions before the first busy morning.
A DfE service update on 29 May 2026 also warned schools not to enter future attendance session codes in advance. Configure the register, but record each session when it happens.
The seven-part pre-term accuracy check
| Check | Evidence to inspect | Owner and next action |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Session timing | Morning and afternoon opening times, closing time and staff instructions. | Attendance lead confirms one school-wide process and a window of no more than 30 minutes. |
| 2. Admission status | Starting dates, dual registration, leavers and pupils entered in advance. | Admissions and attendance staff reconcile the roll before generating sessions. |
| 3. Late marks | A sample of L marks before closing and U marks after closing. | Attendance lead tests the MIS rule and gives staff one clear late-arrival route. |
| 4. Unexplained absence | Open N marks, contact attempts, reasons received and amendment dates. | Named staff replace N promptly and within five school days, using O if no reason is established. |
| 5. Off-site education | Provider, organiser, registration status, timetable and same-day attendance confirmation. | Provision owner distinguishes school-arranged B, local-authority-arranged K and dual-registered D. |
| 6. Timetable status | Temporary part-time plans, review dates, compulsory school age and agreed sessions. | Senior leader checks C2 or X only against the pupil's lawful, current timetable. |
| 7. Closures and amendments | Planned closure calendar, unexpected closure procedure and the amendment audit trail. | Data lead separates planned # from unexpected Y4 and confirms amendments preserve both entries. |
The attendance register must be taken for each morning and afternoon session at the same time for all registered pupils. The current statutory guidance says it must be kept open for no more than 30 minutes.
Present marks are used only when a pupil is in school during registration. Code L records arrival before the register closes and is statistically attending. Code U applies after it closes and is unauthorised absence.
Use the code that describes the session, not the hoped-for story
Start with what was expected for that pupil in that session. Then establish where the pupil was, who arranged any education elsewhere and whether the pupil was registered at another school.
- Confirm the pupil was on the admission register for the session.
- Confirm whether they were required to attend this school in that session.
- Establish presence, late arrival, absence or attendance at another place.
- Check the legal criteria for the candidate code, not only its familiar label.
- Record any required supporting detail and arrange same-day follow-up where needed.
Codes for education away from school are not interchangeable. B is for another approved educational activity arranged by the school. K is for specified provision arranged by the local authority. D requires registration at the other school.
Planned whole-school closures use # and are not collected in the census. An unexpected whole-school closure when a session was due uses Y4. Neither should be turned into pupil absence.
Clear N marks without rewriting history
Use N when the reason for absence is not established before the register closes. Follow up unexplained and unexpected absence promptly, then enter the correct code as soon as the reason is known.
N cannot remain indefinitely. Current guidance requires correction within five school days; if no reason is established, amend it to O. Both N and O are statistically unauthorised absence.
An amendment must preserve the original entry, amended entry, reason, date and the person who made it. That trail matters when staff later need to explain what was known at each point.
The connected-data view: one composite Tuesday
Consider this fictional composite. A pupil appears absent every Tuesday afternoon. The percentage alone could invite a judgement about engagement, while a repeated local code could make the pattern disappear.
The timetable shows off-site education, but the admission record does not show dual registration. The provision record says the local authority arranged the placement, and the provider's confirmation log has two missing returns.
Staff should first verify the arrangement and the pupil's actual attendance with the provider. That evidence may support K for attended sessions and an appropriate absence code where the pupil did not attend.
A family conversation may add transport, health, SEND or timetable context. It changes the support question, but it does not change a register mark unless the legal criteria for the correct code are met.
What an attendance mark cannot prove
A mark can show the recorded status of a session. It cannot, by itself, establish illness, unmet SEND, family disengagement, neglect, exploitation or any other cause.
A pattern is a prompt for enquiry. Listen to the pupil and family, review relevant authorised records, check what support or adjustment was available and record the professional decision.
If there is a welfare or safeguarding concern, follow the school's child protection policy and involve the DSL without delay. The code or percentage does not automate that decision, and urgent concerns should use established local or emergency procedures.
The DfE's current children missing education guidance also requires accurate admission registers and prompt reasonable enquiries. Removing a pupil from roll is a regulated decision, not a data-cleaning shortcut.
Where Student Radar fits, and where it does not
Student Radar's available Attendance Analytics can help authorised staff review headline, period, class and session patterns after configured MIS onboarding, including through Wonde where set up by the school.
It does not decide which national code fits a session and should not replace the source MIS register. Staff must check the underlying arrangement, correct the authorised record and keep the amendment trail.
Connected context can help staff ask a better question. Access remains role-controlled; safeguarding detail belongs with authorised staff and any decision remains subject to human review and the school's procedures.
Five actions to complete before the first session
- Publish the register opening and closing rule to all staff who take a register.
- Reconcile starters, leavers, dual registrations and temporary timetables.
- Sample N, L, U, B, K, D, C2, X, # and Y4 against current criteria.
- Name the owners for first-day calling, provider confirmation and code correction.
- Schedule a five-day N-code review and a two-week post-start quality sample.
Keep the sample small enough to inspect the evidence behind each mark. A polished dashboard cannot rescue an ambiguous register, but a clear owner and correction route often can.
Sources and further reading
- Department for Education, Working together to improve school attendance, statutory guidance updated 9 July 2026.
- UK legislation, School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024, made 2024 and in force for the current register framework.
- Department for Education, Find a school census code, updated 18 March 2026.
- Department for Education, Children missing education: statutory guidance for local authorities and schools, updated 8 September 2025.
- Department for Education, Monitor your school attendance pre-populated attendance codes, updated 29 May 2026.