Children Missing From Education (CME)

Children Missing Education (CME) refers to:

• All children of compulsory school age who are not on a school roll
• Children not being educated elsewhere (e.g. privately or in alternative provision)
• Who have been out of any educational provision for a substantial period (usually agreed as two weeks or more).

This means all children between the ages of 5 and 16 who:

• Are not named on a school register
• Are not being Educated at Home
• Are not in any other type of Education (for example college or work experience placement)
• Have failed to attend for at least four weeks

would be subject to CME enquiries.

Roles and Responsibilities

By law the council is responsible for finding and identifying any children who are CME, under the Section 436A of the Education Act 1996 

Parents who do not make suitable arrangements for their child/children to access education could be subject to a School Attendance Order.

• For more information visit School attendance and absence: Legal action to enforce school attendance (www.gov.uk)

The Education Welfare and EOTAS Service follows the local authority procedure for identifying and tracing children missing from education.

All CME enquiries must be sent to: CME.EducationWelfare@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Children Missing from Education Do Not Include:

• Children who are on holiday
• Children whose whereabouts are known by the school but are not attending school (for example if they are in hospital)
• Children who have moved to another part of the city and are transferring schools

Useful Links

More information visits the Children missing education (www.gov.uk)