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.
The September 2026 Kent area SEND inspection identified concern around children experiencing prolonged part-time timetables, exclusion and disrupted education. That finding is useful context, not an individual ruling. Keep the child's actual timetable, attendance/exclusion record, written rationale, support plan, review dates and reintegration plan. Read the Kent inspection guide →
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.
Plan around the needs already identified
Record the barriers to education and the support needed now, even if a neurodevelopmental assessment is pending. SEN Support and, where the Equality Act disability test is met, reasonable adjustments should be considered on the evidence available. Ask what is being done, who is responsible and when it will be reviewed.
Use the SEND Code of Practice, DfE Equality Act guidance for schools, our SEN Support guide and the SEND & EHCP guidance to keep the support question separate from the diagnostic timetable.
Practical parent-advocacy guidance, not legal or clinical advice. Reviewed 23 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 23 September 2026. Official sources take priority over this general information.
Ofsted: Kent area SEND inspection — September 2026 ↗Questions parents ask
Answers for parents and carers in England. These answers were checked on 27 September 2026; use the linked official source where your next step depends on a legal duty or process.
What can I do if school keeps asking me to collect my child early?
Ask for the reason, how the absence is recorded and whether this is a formal suspension, an agreed temporary timetable or a health-related collection. Sending a child home for disciplinary reasons must follow the formal suspension process; calling it informal or obtaining parental agreement does not remove that requirement. Keep a record of each request and the education missed.
Official source: DfE: behaviour and exclusion guide for parents.
What if my child cannot attend school because of anxiety?
Tell the school what is preventing attendance and ask for a meeting about support, adjustments and a reviewed plan. Include relevant health evidence where available. Do not assume anxiety automatically authorises absence or that an attendance label explains the cause. If your child is not receiving suitable education, also ask the local authority to consider its responsibilities.
When suitable education is missing.
Official source: DfE: mental health and attendance.
When a child is not receiving suitable education
Sometimes the issue goes beyond adjustments or a school-based reintegration plan.
Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 places a duty on local authorities to arrange suitable education for children of compulsory school age who, because of illness, exclusion or otherwise, would not receive suitable education unless arrangements were made for them.
“Suitable” includes education appropriate to the child's age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs.
Whether section 19 applies depends on the individual circumstances.
A reduced timetable, absence, diagnosis or particular number of missed school days does not by itself automatically establish that the duty has been breached.
Where health needs prevent a child from attending school, Department for Education statutory guidance explains local-authority responsibilities for children who cannot attend school, or can attend only intermittently, because of health needs.
If a child is receiving little or no suitable education, parents may need to ask the local authority specifically what arrangements it is considering to secure suitable education, rather than dealing only with the school's attendance or reintegration plan.