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Children missing education

Anyone concerned that a child is missing education (CME) can make a referral to the Children Missing Education Team at Gloucestershire County Council

Children Missing Education (CME) are children of compulsory school age who are not registered pupils at a school and are not receiving suitable education otherwise than at a school

CME also includes those children who are missing (family whereabouts unknown) and are usually children who are registered on a school roll / alternative provision. This might be a child who is not at their last known address and either

  • has not taken up an allocated school place as expected, or
  • has 10 or more days of continuous absence from school without explanation, or
  • left school suddenly and the destination is unknown

It is the responsibility of the Access to Education Team, on behalf of the Local Authority (LA), to:-

  • Collate and report information on all cases of CME of statutory school aged children in Gloucestershire maintained schools, academies. free schools, alternative provision academies and Alternative Provision Schools (APS).
  • Liaise with partner agencies and other LAs and schools across Britain to track pupils who may be missing education.
  • Ensure each child missing education is offered full time education 

Alerting the Local Authority that a child may be missing education

Any professional should alert the LA when they suspect that a child might be missing from education. To make this process as easy as possible, a referral should be sent to:

Access to Education Team
Shire Hall
Westgate Street
Gloucester GL1 2TP

Tel 01452 426015
missingpupils@gloucestershire.gov.uk