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A reduced timetable can be a genuine short-term support measure, but too often it becomes an open-ended way of managing a child the school is struggling to support. Here is what the rules actually say.
This guide explains the legal framework and what you need to know. When you are ready to write the actual letter, .
A reduced or part-time timetable is an arrangement where a child attends school for less than the full school day or week. In a small number of cases this can be a legitimate, carefully planned step, for example as part of a phased return after illness. Far more often, parents of children with SEN find their child placed on a reduced timetable with no clear plan, no end date, and no proper explanation.
If this is happening to your child, it is worth understanding what the rules require, because reduced timetables are surrounded by misconceptions on all sides.
Every child of compulsory school age is entitled to a full-time education suitable to their age, ability, aptitude, and any special educational needs they have. A reduced timetable is a departure from that entitlement, so it should only ever be used in exceptional circumstances and never as a way to manage behaviour or to cope with a lack of staffing or support.
The Department for Education's statutory guidance, Working together to improve school attendance, says a part-time timetable should be in place for the shortest time necessary, have the agreement of both the school and the parent, have regular review dates that include you and your child, and have a proposed end date after which your child returns full-time. An open-ended arrangement with no review does not meet that guidance.
One of the most important things parents can understand is this: a reduced timetable is not, in itself, special educational provision. If a child cannot cope with a full day at school, the answer is to identify why and put the right support in place, not simply to reduce the hours.
Where a school responds to a child's needs by sending them home rather than by securing support, that is often a sign that the child's needs are not being met and that an EHC needs assessment may be appropriate. The reduced timetable becomes evidence of unmet need rather than a solution to it.
The statutory attendance guidance says a part-time timetable should have the agreement of both the school and the parent the child normally lives with. If you have felt pressured into accepting one, or if you agreed in a moment of crisis and now want it reviewed, put that in writing and ask for your child's full-time place to be restored and for proper support to be provided instead.
If your child has an EHC plan, the guidance says the school should discuss the part-time timetable with the local authority so the support package can be reviewed quickly. You can ask the school whether that has happened, and you can raise it with the local authority yourself.
Can a school put my child on a reduced timetable without my agreement?
The statutory guidance Working together to improve school attendance says a part-time timetable should have the agreement of both the school and the parent the child normally lives with. If you did not agree, or agreed under pressure, say so in writing and ask for a review.
How long can a reduced timetable last?
The guidance says for the shortest time necessary. It should have a proposed end date, after which your child attends full-time, and it can only be extended through regular reviews that include you and your child.
Can a school use a reduced timetable to manage behaviour?
No. The guidance says a part-time timetable should not be used to manage a pupil's behaviour. If behaviour is the reason, ask what support is being put in place instead.
My child has an EHCP. What should happen?
The school should discuss the part-time timetable with the local authority so the support package can be reviewed quickly. The special educational provision in Section F of the plan must still be secured under Section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014.
How is a reduced timetable recorded on the register?
The time your child is not in school is recorded as authorised absence, normally using code C2, or code X for a child below compulsory school age.
Start by asking the school, in writing, three questions: what is the educational reason for the reduced timetable, what support is being put in place to return your child to full-time education, and what is the planned end date. The answers, or the absence of them, will tell you a great deal.
If the arrangement has no plan behind it, the next step is a letter that sets out your child's entitlement to full-time education, asks for that entitlement to be honoured, and requests the support or assessment your child actually needs. SEN Letters UK can generate exactly that letter, worded professionally and referencing the relevant duties, so the school understands the situation is being taken seriously.
SEN Letters UK writes the letter for you, professionally worded, legally informed, tailored to your child's situation.
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Get the letter that requests an assessment
You do not need the school's permission to ask. We will email you a ready-to-use template letter to request an EHC needs assessment from your council, with the right wording and the law it rests on.
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