When is a reduced or part-time timetable lawful?

The rule in plain terms

Only in very exceptional circumstances. A reduced or part-time timetable must be temporary, in the pupil's best interests, agreed with parents, regularly reviewed with an end date, and never used to manage behaviour. Every pupil of compulsory school age is entitled to a full-time education, so anything less is the exception, not a tool you reach for when a pupil is struggling. The line is set by the Department for Education's statutory guidance, Working together to improve school attendance, which schools must have regard to and which has been in force since 19 August 2024.

The conditions every part-time timetable must meet

The guidance (paragraphs 65 to 70) treats a part-time timetable as a short-term measure with conditions attached, not an open-ended status. To be lawful it should:

be agreed by both the school and the pupil's parents;
have a clear ambition and sit within the pupil's wider support, health care or reintegration plan;
carry regular review dates, set with the pupil and parents, so it lasts the shortest time necessary;
have a proposed end date after which the pupil is expected to attend full-time.

Two hard limits sit on top of that. A part-time timetable must not be used to manage a pupil's behaviour, and it must be genuinely temporary, not a permanent “managed” arrangement dressed up as a plan. Where a pupil has an EHC plan, the school should also discuss the timetable with the local authority so the support package can be reviewed. The absence is recorded as authorised against code C2 (or code X for the youngest pupils).

The qualifier most guidance leaves out

Here is the exposure top results miss. If you reduce a disabled pupil's hours because the school cannot resource the support they need full-time, that can be discrimination arising from disability under the Equality Act 2010, unless it can be objectively justified, and it may also amount to an unlawful informal exclusion. Quietly reducing a pupil's hours, however it is labelled, can be off-rolling and an unlawful “unofficial” exclusion. Crucially, parental consent does not make an unlawful timetable lawful: a signed agreement does not cure a reduction that exists because the support was not put in place.

The safeguarding angle

A pupil on a part-time timetable is out of school for part of the week, so you carry the “children missing education” and safeguarding considerations for that time. Make sure the pupil is safe and occupied off-site, and where a social worker is involved keep them informed. The timetable should always be a step inside a reintegration plan, not a resting place.

This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.