There is inconsistency over how schools are applying the “B code” to record absent pupils, with some using it to avoid scrutiny of managed moves, MPs were told today.
The Commons Education Select Committee heard from education figures, including children’s commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza, as part of its ongoing inquiry into persistent absence and disadvantaged pupils.
During the committee hearing, Dame Rachel said: “There are a lot of different codes used by schools around absence and I’m particularly concerned about the B code. And I just want to raise this with you.
“The B code is meant to be used for pupils who are present, but at an off-site educational activity that’s been approved by the school.
“Now, this code is not meant to be used for kids who are at home ‘working’. It is meant to be used if they’re in are in an alternative provision but still on the school rolls.
“I am seeing great inconsistency of the use of the code and I think that is a simple place that we could look at.”
Dame Rachel said to MPs that B codes should be looked at carefully because “this is where children who are severely absent - and who are part home educated - start to slide off”.
Her concerns over the use of the B code were echoed during the session by Alice Wilcock, head of education at the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), who said they were sometimes being used for “managed moves”.
A managed move is when a pupil voluntarily transfers from one school to another. In many cases, such moves are used in place of exclusions when both the family and school agree that the child in question would be better suited to alternative provision.
The CSJ has previously warned that managed moves are, in some cases, being used to artificially lower exclusion rates.
Ms Wilcock said today: “The CSJ has been trying to map where all these children are, be they severely absent or be they excluded from school and it is just so difficult to know where a lot of the children are who are not attending school are.”
She added: “We have heard of some settings sending children home to work from home, saying that they are being B-coded.
“We have also heard B-coding being used for managed moves - as schools who are scared of being caught out in managed moves are now saying: ‘We will B code it rather than putting it down as a dual registration.’”
Headteachers’ leaders have questioned how widespread this issue is and called for the government to highlight if there is a problem.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “We haven’t heard of code B being used inconsistently ourselves, but agree with the importance of using attendance and absence codes in the correct manner.
“If there is an issue over the use of code B, we would welcome communication from the Department for Education to highlight this and reinforce existing guidance, and would be very happy to share that messaging via our own channels. Schools work very hard on ensuring they have robust processes around attendance and absence.”
James Bowen, director of policy at the NAHT school leaders’ union, said: “It’s important we look for any evidence to suggest this is a widespread issue or whether it’s just a few isolated cases of the wrong code being used.
“Where codes are being used incorrectly then it’s sensible that this is addressed. However, when it comes to tackling the very real concerns around attendance issues, there is a range of more fundamental issues that need to remain our priority.”
Part-time timetables warning
During the session, Dame Rachel, a former headteacher and academy trust chief executive, also raised concern about the use of part-time timetables as a form of behaviour management, echoing similar warnings from Ofsted and the DfE.
She said: “This means children who are only attending one or two hours a week are recorded as ‘authorised absent’.
“I’ve seen how part-time timetables can be really effective. You know it can rebuild children’s confidence to get back to school, but I’m concerned they’re being used maybe as a behavioural intervention, rather than because it’s in the best interest of the school.”
Education unions, including the Association of School and College Leaders, have previously highlighted cuts to behaviour support services and lengthy waiting lists for mental health help for pupils as some of the factors behind poor attendance.
