Code S: Study leave
Schools must record study leave as authorised absence. Study leave should be used sparingly and only granted to Year 11 pupils during public examinations. Provision should still be made available for those pupils who want to continue to come into school to revise.
- study leave should only be granted to Year 11 pupils and never to those in other year groups;
- it should never exceed 15 school days in a year and is most appropriately granted during the examination period itself, i.e. not before the beginning of that period;
- it should always be granted sparingly taking account of an individual pupil’s ability to manage and benefit from unsupervised study;
- any pupil has the right to attend school during study leave and a parent has the right to insist he/she does so;
- any session given to pupils as study leave has a statistical meaning of authorised absence (it is not an ‘approved educational activity’ as it is unsupervised) and should be recorded and reported on by the school as such.
Students may be off rolled on the last Friday of June if they are not returning to school in September, providing they are 16 years of age by the start of the next term. If students are returning for sixth form, they may be coded as ‘X’ after the last Friday in June.