EBSA and the law

The Education Act 1996 places a legal duty on all parents to ensure that their child has an education and is attending school regularly. There are only certain reasons why a child might miss school, e.g., ill health. If it is deemed a parent is not supporting their child to access school it can lead to a variety of actions such as Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) and/or court action in a criminal or family court.

For young people experiencing EBSA and struggling to attend school, it is the head teacher’s decision whether to authorise an absence or not. In February 2023, the Department for Education published new guidance: ‘Mental health issues affecting a pupil’s attendance: guidance for schools’ on GOV.UK. It outlines the expectation for schools to build strong relationships with families, to listen to and understand barriers to attendance and work with families to remove them. The guidance shared that medical evidence is not required for schools to make adaptations to support a child and that as long as parents and carers are working with the school to improve attendance they should not be prosecuted.

The Lancashire EBSA strategy is in support of this approach by offering training, a toolkit and resources to support schools to support families. If a school did decide to refer for legal intervention, it would be expected that they have already tried an array of strategies to encourage and support your child’s attendance (see the ‘What can you expect the school to do?’ later on in this guide).