School access & reasonable adjustments
When your child is registered at school but is not really accessing education.
Attendance figures can describe the symptom. We help parents organise the evidence about what is preventing access and what support is needed.
Reduced / part-time timetables
Department for Education attendance guidance updated in July 2026 says pupils of compulsory school age are entitled to full-time education and describes a temporary part-time timetable as something for very exceptional circumstances, where it is in the pupil's best interests and agreed with the parent.
If a child is attending one or two hours a day for a long period, we want the paperwork to explain why, what support has been tried, what the plan is, how progress is being reviewed and what needs to happen for education access to improve.
When attendance or exclusion concerns overlap with safeguarding
Revised Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance, effective from 1 September 2026, specifically highlights children with SEND and children who are repeatedly removed from lessons, suspended, on part-time timetables or at risk of exclusion. Schools should not assume that an injury, change in mood, distress or behaviour is simply part of a child's disability.
Where there is a safeguarding concern, ask whether the child has an accessible way to report what happened, what the designated safeguarding lead (DSL) and special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) have considered together, and whether communication, pastoral support, reasonable adjustments or proactive planning are needed.
Reasonable adjustments
A useful adjustment request is specific. Rather than “please support my child better”, it identifies the barrier, what happens because of it, the proposed adjustment, and the evidence behind the request.
Examples of questions
- What exactly is making the environment inaccessible?
- What triggers distress or dysregulation?
- Which changes have already been tried?
- What does the child need before, during and after difficult transitions?
Keep the record
Important arrangements should not exist only in corridor conversations. We help parents confirm agreed actions and review dates in writing.
Read our plain-English reduced timetable guide and use the working toolkit.
Evidence of education access
Useful evidence can include attendance patterns, timetable changes, support plans, emails, incident records, professional reports, SENCO statements and descriptions of how long the child can safely or meaningfully access the current environment.
If school access, SEND, health or wider family pressures overlap and nobody currently has the whole picture, Early Help may be worth considering. The point is support first: an appropriate practitioner may also help bring assessment, agreed actions and professional observations into one clearer record.
Preparing for a school meeting
- Define the outcome you need from the meeting.
- Bring only the evidence needed for the issues being discussed.
- Write down the questions that require decisions.
- Confirm agreed actions, responsible person and review date afterwards.
Practical parent-advocacy guidance, not legal or clinical advice. Reviewed 7 September 2026 against the official sources linked on this page. See how we write, check and correct guidance.
Official sources / further reading
Working together to improve school attendance – July 2026 (GOV.UK) ↗SEND Code of Practice (GOV.UK) ↗Process and policy can change. This page was reviewed 7 September 2026. Official sources take priority over this general information.