Regulation 2 Interpretation

In these Regulations–

• “the applicable period”, in relation to a school year, means the period starting with the beginning of that year and finishing with the end of the school day falling on the Friday before the last Monday in May in that year;

• “attendance target”, in relation to a school, means a target which the school’s governing body have set or (as the case may be) are required to set by virtue of, and in accordance with, regulation 3;

• “notice year” means the school year in which the Secretary of State gives or (as the case may be) is entitled to give notice to the governing body of a school under regulation 4;

• “relevant day pupil”, in relation to a school and to a school year, means a pupil registered at that school apart from–

  1. (a)

     a boarder, or

  2. (b)

     a pupil who, before the beginning of the September immediately preceding 1st October in that year, either–

     1. (i)

        has not attained the age of five, or

     2. (ii)

        has attained the age of sixteen;

• “school” means a maintained school;

• “the total number of possible attendances”, in relation to a school and to any school year, means the number produced by multiplying the number of relevant day pupils at the school by the number of school sessions in the applicable period in that year;

• “unauthorised absence”, in relation to a school, means an occasion on which a relevant day pupil is recorded as absent from the school without authority pursuant to the Education (Pupil Registration) Regulations 1995^f1;

• “the unauthorised absence rate”, in relation to a school and to any school year, means the total number of unauthorised absences from that school in the applicable period during that year, expressed as a percentage of the total number of possible attendances in that period.

Where a percentage required to be calculated by virtue of these Regulations is not a whole number, it shall be rounded to one decimal place.