School Attendance Policies Explained: What 90% Actually Means
My School Agent | 8 July 2026
A letter came home in my son's bag last month. "We're writing to inform you that your child's attendance has fallen to 91%."
91%. That's an A, right? That's fine?
Turns out 90% attendance means your child has missed nearly four weeks of school. In one year.
I had no idea it added up that fast.
The maths you need to know
A school year has roughly 190 days.
90% attendance = 171 days present, 19 days absent.
That's nearly four school weeks. Almost a whole half term.
95% sounds better, but that's still 10 days off. Two full weeks.
The only benchmark that actually means good attendance is 97% or above. That's 5-6 days absent across the whole year.
One bad winter and you're done.
What counts as authorised vs unauthorised
Authorised absence: illness, medical appointments you can't schedule outside school hours, religious observance, exceptional family circumstances (funeral, etc).
Unauthorised absence: holidays in term time, birthday treats, "we overslept", appointments you could have booked after school.
Schools decide what counts as exceptional. A wedding might be authorised. A trip to Disneyland won't be.
Both authorised and unauthorised absences count towards your child's attendance percentage. The distinction matters for penalties, but the number still drops either way.
Medical evidence requirements
Most schools don't require evidence for a day or two off with a cold.
But if your child has frequent absences, or if they're already flagged for low attendance, the school can ask for proof.
That means appointment cards, prescription labels, doctor's notes.
You can't usually get a sick note for a stomach bug. GPs don't issue them for minor illness. But schools can still ask you to explain the absence.
If your child has a long-term condition, speak to the school. They can flag it on the system so you're not chased every time.
How quickly it drops
This is the bit that shocked me.
Your child starts the year at 100%. They catch a cold in October. Three days off. Attendance drops to 98%.
Sickness bug in December. Two days. Down to 97%.
Chicken pox in February. Five days. Now at 95%.
By Easter, one more illness and you're under 90%.
If your child has asthma, frequent infections, or any ongoing condition, hitting 90% becomes almost impossible.
What happens at 90%
Below 90% is officially "persistent absence".
The school is required to monitor it. You'll get a letter. Possibly a meeting.
This doesn't mean you're in trouble. It means the school has noticed and will keep an eye on it.
If attendance doesn't improve, escalation begins. Education Welfare Officer involvement. Formal attendance plans.
More on that in the next post.
Can you challenge it?
If you believe absences were wrongly marked as unauthorised, speak to the school office.
Registers can be corrected if there's been an error.
But if the absence genuinely happened, the number stands. Even if it feels unfair.
The bigger context
Schools are under enormous pressure to maintain high attendance. It's tracked, published, compared.
Ofsted looks at it. League tables factor it in.
So schools send letters even when they know your child was genuinely ill. It's not personal. It's box-ticking.
But it still feels rubbish to get a letter implying you're not taking school seriously when your child has just had a chest infection.
What you can do
Track it yourself. Schools should send attendance updates regularly, but you can also ask.
Avoid taking time off unless absolutely necessary. That birthday theme park trip can wait until half term.
Send your child in if they're borderline. Bit tired but not ill? They can cope.
But don't send them in actually unwell. Nobody wants norovirus spreading through Reception.
It's a horrible balance.
If you're trying to keep track of school deadlines alongside everything else, My School Agent helps you stay on top of it all without drowning in paperwork. One less thing to juggle.