When is a part-time timetable allowed?

What does the guidance actually say?

The starting point is that every pupil of compulsory school age is entitled to a full-time education suitable to their age, aptitude and any special educational needs (Working together to improve school attendance, July 2026, paragraph 65). Some pupils receive that education partly at school and partly elsewhere, and that time must be recorded with the right codes. A part-time timetable is something different: the exception to full-time education, not an option on a menu.

The guidance allows one ‘in very exceptional circumstances, where it is in a pupil’s best interests’, as a temporary arrangement to meet their individual needs. Its own example is a medical condition that prevents a pupil attending full-time, where reduced hours help them access as much education as possible. It then adds one plain sentence: ‘A part-time timetable should not be used to manage a pupil’s behaviour’ (paragraph 66).

What has to be agreed before it starts?

The guidance sets out four conditions. Each one is there to stop a short-term bridge turning into a pupil quietly losing their education (paragraph 67):

• The agreement of both the school and the parent the pupil normally lives with.
• A clear ambition, as part of the pupil’s wider support, health care or reintegration plan.
• Regular review dates that include the pupil and their parents, so it lasts only as long as necessary.
• A proposed end date, after which the pupil is expected to attend full-time. It can be extended at a review, and in some limited cases a long-term health condition may need a longer arrangement.

Who else needs to know?

If the pupil has a social worker, the school is expected to keep them informed and involved (paragraph 68). If the pupil has an education, health and care plan, the school should discuss the part-time timetable with the local authority so the support package can be reviewed quickly (paragraph 69). A reduced timetable for a child with an EHCP is a sign the plan may no longer match their needs.

Inside school, the arrangement should be visible to everyone who teaches the pupil. A part-time timetable that only the head of year knows about tends to fall apart the first time a cover teacher marks the pupil absent from a lesson they were never meant to attend. Subject teachers also need to know which lessons the pupil will be in, so the hours they do attend are planned rather than spent catching up.

How is it recorded in the register?

Agreeing a part-time timetable means the school has agreed to the pupil being absent for part of the day or week, so the absence must be recorded accordingly, ‘normally using code X or C2’ (paragraph 70). Code X is for pupils below or above compulsory school age, so for a pupil of compulsory school age the code is C2: leave of absence for a pupil subject to a part-time timetable. It is classified as authorised absence (paragraph 349).

Two details catch schools out. The register must still be taken at the same time for all pupils, including those on part-time timetables (paragraph 345). And C2 must not be used where the pupil is getting a full-time education split between places, such as dual registration or flexi-schooling. In those cases the code should reflect why the pupil is not in school for that session (paragraph 348).

When does it help an anxious pupil?

When it is a ladder rather than a landing. For a pupil coming back after a long absence, the guidance suggests considering a time-limited phased return for those affected by anxious feelings about attending (paragraph 58). A good plan starts with what the pupil can manage now, perhaps the first two lessons with a known adult, and sets out the next step and when it will be reviewed.

Say it to the family in a way that keeps the direction clear: ‘If a full timetable is too much right now, we can build a shorter one for a few weeks, with a plan and a date to grow it back. It’s a bridge, not where we’re leaving her.’ Each step up should be small enough to be boring before the next one is added.

What are the warning signs it has gone wrong?

The commonest failure is drift. No review has happened, the end date has passed or was never set, and the mornings are calmer for everyone so no one raises it. A part-time timetable with no plan to grow it back is a pupil being written out of full-time education. The guidance also says a pupil’s name can only be removed from the admission register for one of the reasons in the regulations, and that removing a name for any other reason ‘could constitute off-rolling’ (paragraph 222).

You don’t sign off a part-time timetable, but you can notice one that has stalled. Say to the SENCo or head of year: ‘He’s been on mornings only since September and I haven’t seen a review. Can we check where the plan is?’ If the reduced hours are being used because of behaviour, raise that too, because the guidance rules it out. Any worry about the pupil’s welfare goes to your Designated Safeguarding Lead the same day.