Absence due to child performance

The August 2024 Pupil Registration Regulations amendment regarding absence during term time does not affect authorisation of absence for child performances. The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Regulations)2006, 7(1)(a) states that leave of absence may be granted to enable employment for the purpose of taking part in a performance within the meaning of section 37 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1963 (c) under the authority of a licence granted by the local authority.

Section 37(4) of the Children & Young Persons Act states if a local authority is satisfied that (where performance dates are given) a child’s education will not suffer by taking part in a performance, then: ‘in the case of an application duly made for a licence under this section which they have the power to grant, they shall not refuse to grant the licence’

DfE Working together to improve School Attendance, Statutory Guidance August 2024 section 315 states: All schools can grant leaves of absence for pupils to undertake employment (paid or unpaid) during school hours. Schools maintained by a local authority and special schools not maintained by a local authority can only do so in the following circumstances (under regulation 11(2)) of the Pupil Registration Regulations August 2024:

• Where the local authority have granted a licence for the pupil to take part in a performance regulated by section 37(2) of the Children and Young Persons Act
  1963.
• Where a pupil does not need a licence for such a performance because an exception applies under section 37(3) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1963, including where a Body of Persons Approval (BOPA) covering the pupil has been issued by the local authority in whose area the performance will take place or the Secretary of State.
• Where a Justice of the Peace has given the pupil a licence to go abroad for a performance or other regulated purpose under section 25(2) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933.

Schools should be sympathetic to requests for leave of absence that are supported by a licence issued by a local authority or a BOPA; as long as the school remains satisfied that this will not have a negative effect on a pupil’s education. Where a local authority licence specifies the dates that a pupil is to be away from school to perform, the school should record the absence for those days as if a leave of absence had been applied for and granted. Where the terms of the local authority licence do not specify dates, however, or where a BOPA or other exemption or licence from a Justice of the Peace applies, it is at the discretion of the school to grant leave of absence.

Schools must use Code C1 when recording leave of absence for the purpose of participating in a regulated performance or undertaking regulated employment abroad. This code is classified for statistical purposes as authorised absence. Schools that are not required to follow regulation 11, must still use this code to record a pupil who is absent with leave for the purpose of participating in a regulated performance or work abroad under a licence or exemption as described above.

Before granting a licence, the local authority must be satisfied that the child’s education will not suffer. A school letter is requested as part of the licence application as confirmation of this. If a school believes a child’s education will suffer as a result of taking part in a performance, they should provide reasons to the local authority in writing. The information must be specific to the child (saying for example that it is against school policy is not sufficient). If the school does not provide such information the local authority will issue the licence.

Further information on child performance in Hertfordshire is available on the Hertfordshire County Council's website:

Hertfordshire County Council: Apply for a child's performance licence