Citation and commencement

1. —(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Education (Provision of Full-Time Education for Excluded Pupils) (England) Regulations 2007 and shall come into force on 1st September 2007.

(2) These Regulations apply only in relation to England.

Interpretation

2. —(1) In these Regulations—

“the 1996 Act” means the Education Act 1996; and

“the 2006 Act” means the Education and Inspections Act 2006.

(2) A reference in these Regulations to a relevant school is a reference to a relevant school—

(a) as given by sections 100(5) and 111 (meaning of relevant school) of the 2006 Act, for purposes relating to the duty imposed by section 100 (duty of governing body or proprietor where pupil excluded for fixed period);

(b) as defined in subsection (6) of section 19 (exceptional provision of education in pupil referral units or elsewhere) of the 1996 Act, for purposes relating to the duty in subsection (3A) of that section( 4 ).

Duty of governing body or proprietor to provide education where pupil excluded for fixed period

3. —(1) Except in a case prescribed by regulation 5 , in relation to the duty of the governing body of a relevant school under section 100 of the 2006 Act to make arrangements for the provision of suitable full-time education for a pupil of compulsory school age who is excluded from the school for a fixed period on disciplinary grounds, the day from which the education must be provided is the relevant day.

(2) Nothing in paragraph (1) prevents the governing body of a relevant school from providing such education before the relevant day.

(3) In this Regulation “relevant day” in relation to a pupil means the sixth school day of the exclusion.

Duty of local education authority to provide education in relation to excluded pupils

4. —(1) Except in a case prescribed by regulation 5 , in relation to the duty of a local education authority under section 19(1) and (3A) of the 1996 Act( 5 ) to make arrangements for the provision of suitable full-time education for a pupil of compulsory school age who is permanently excluded from a relevant school or pupil referral unit, or excluded from a pupil referral unit for a fixed period, on disciplinary grounds, the day from which the education must be provided is the relevant day.

(2) Nothing in paragraph (1) prevents the local education authority from providing such education before the relevant day.

(3) In this regulation, “relevant day” in relation to a pupil means—

(a) where the pupil is permanently excluded from a relevant school or a pupil referral unit, from the sixth school day following the day on which the permanent exclusion took place;

(b) where the pupil is excluded for a fixed period from a pupil referral unit, the sixth school day of the exclusion.

Exceptions to duty to provide full-time education

5. —(1) The duty to make arrangements for the provision of full-time education imposed by—

(a) section 100 of the 2006 Act; or

(b) section 19(3A) of the 1996 Act,

does not apply in the cases prescribed in paragraph (2) .

(2) The cases prescribed are—

(a) the pupil is in year 11 and has already taken (or missed, if the pupil failed or was unable to attend) all the public examinations for which the pupil was entered in that year;

(b) a statement of special educational needs is maintained by the local education authority in respect of a pupil pursuant to section 324 of the 1996 Act which indicates (however expressed) that the pupil should be provided at any time with a maximum number of hours’ education per week, being a number of hours less than that ordinarily provided for children of the same age as the pupil by the authority, where the authority is providing education for the maximum number of hours so indicated in accordance with the requirements of the statement.

Prescribed time for head teacher to give notice to parent in relation to exclusion

6. —(1) Paragraphs (2) to (6) prescribe, in different cases, the time by which the head teacher of a relevant school in England, on excluding from the school a pupil of compulsory school age, must give the parent a notice in writing under section 104(1) of the 2006 Act.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3) , where a pupil is excluded during the course of a school day but before the beginning of any afternoon session on that day, the time prescribed is the start of the afternoon session.

(3) If any of the information referred to in regulation 7 (1) is not known to and cannot be ascertained without unreasonable difficulty by the head teacher to enable the notice to be given by the time prescribed by paragraph (2), the time prescribed is the end of the afternoon session.

(4) Subject to paragraph (5) , where an excluded pupil is excluded during the course of a school day but after the beginning of any afternoon session on that day, the prescribed time is the end of the afternoon session.

(5) If any of the information referred to in regulation 7 (1) is not known to and cannot be ascertained without unreasonable difficulty by the head teacher to enable the notice to be given by the time prescribed by paragraph (4), the time prescribed is the end of the first school session on the school day next following (or if it is the only school session on that day, the end of that session).

(6) Paragraph (4) applies to a pupil excluded during the course of a school day on which there is only one session as if the word “afternoon” was omitted on both occasions it occurs.

Information to be provided in a notice relating to excluded pupil

7. —(1) Subject to paragraph (2) , the following information is prescribed as the other information (in addition to that provided by section 104(2) and (3) of the 2006 Act( 6 )) which must be contained in the notice the head teacher of a relevant school in England must give the parent under section 104(1) of the 2006 Act—

(a) the address at which suitable full-time education is to be provided for the pupil;

(b) particulars identifying the person to whom the pupil should report on first attending that address for the purpose of receiving suitable full-time education;

(c) in relation to that suitable-full-time education—

(i) where two sessions per day are provided, the times at which the morning session commences, the afternoon session ends and the break between them commences and ends; or

(ii) where a single session per day is provided, the times at which the session commences and ends.

(2) So much of the information in paragraph (1) (a) to (c) is not prescribed information where it is not known to the head teacher at the time prescribed by regulation 6(3) or (5) (as the case may be).

(3) The information in paragraph (1) (a) to (c) which is not prescribed information by virtue of paragraph (2) must, in the case of a temporary exclusion, be given by the head teacher to the parent in writing 48 hours before the suitable full-time education is to be provided.

Combination of notices

8. A notice under section 104 of the 2006 Act may be combined with—

(a) a notice to the parent given in accordance with regulations made under section 52(3)(a) of the Education Act 2002( 7 ), or a notice with a similar purpose given to the parent on exclusion of the pupil from a relevant school other than a maintained school; and

(b) a notice given in accordance with regulations made under section 102 of the 2006 Act.

Supplementary provision as to notices

9. —(1) The failure to give a notice by the time prescribed by regulation 6 does not relieve the head teacher of the duty to serve the notice.

(2) A notice which the head teacher has failed to give by the time prescribed by regulation 6 is not ineffective by reason only of that failure for the purposes of sections 103(1)(b) and 104 of the 2006 Act.

Amendments

10. —(1) After regulation 4(4) of the Education (Pupil Exclusions and Appeals) (Maintained Schools) (England) Regulations 2002( 8 ), insert—

“ (4A) Where—

(a) paragraph (4) applies in a case failing within paragraph (3)(b) or (c); and

(b) the pupil resides in the area of a different local education authority,

the head teacher shall (without delay) inform in addition that local education authority of the matters in paragraph (4). ” .

(2) After sub-paragraph (a) of regulation 5(3) of the Education (Pupil Exclusions and Appeals) (Pupil Referral Units) (England) Regulations 2002( 9 ) omit “and” and insert—

“ (aa) if the pupil resides in the area of a different local education authority, in addition inform that local education authority of the decision and the reasons for it; and ” .