Failure to comply with this duty can lead to prosecution. Schools are required to take attendance registers twice a day. This is done at the beginning of the morning and afternoon sessions.
Some schools also call class registers at the start of each lesson.
Where a day pupil of compulsory school age is absent, schools have to indicate in their register whether the absence is authorised by the school or unauthorised. Authorised absence is absence with permission from a teacher or other authorised representative of the school. Unauthorised absence is absence without permission from a teacher or other authorised representative of the school. This includes all unexplained or unjustified absences. To place these figures in context, the tables also include the average number of half days missed per absent pupil .