Every young person. Every school. Every day.
Foreword
We all have high aspirations for the children and young people of Devon.
We want them to enjoy life in the county and beyond, to achieve well and to thrive as part of a strong and inclusive community and economy. Positive belonging and engagement with education is vital if they are to realise this ambition and reach their full potential.
The vision for children and young people in Devon is clear and consistent. We want:
‘To build an education system where inclusion is central to all decision-making, creating learning communities that celebrate diversity, promote equity, and ensure all learners, regardless of their background or ability, have access to high-quality educational experiences’.
Our priority strategies are:
- building inclusive learning communities
- strengthening high-quality universal provision
- promoting belonging and engagement
- fostering partnerships with families and communities
- embedding accountability and continuous provision
This Strategy for Attendance will help to make education outcomes for all Devon children and young people the best they can be.
For this to happen children and young people need to engage with school regularly, where they can access an education that is appropriate to their needs.
This document sets out what we all need to do to achieve this vision.
School attendance and developing belonging and engagement in education is everyone’s responsibility, and we must work together to achieve the best inclusive and aspirational outcomes for all children and young people.
The importance of positive school engagement
It is recognised that engaging with school regularly can be a protective factor for children and young people.
By not engaging with school regularly children and young people are leaving themselves vulnerable to risks which can reduce their life chances and future opportunities.
There is evidence to suggest that regular school engagement is a key mechanism to support children and young people’s educational, economic and social outcomes.
Positive engagement with school promotes good and improved outcomes for children and young people. In Devon we aim to ensure that all staff advocate the child’s right to a full-time and efficient education.
This strategy focusses on supporting engagement by:
- preventing patterns of absence from developing by promoting good engagement with education
- intervening early by using data to spot patterns of absence before they become persistent and working with families to remove the barriers to engaging with education
- targeting support for persistent and severe absentees with all local partners working together to re-engage children and young people
Context
The Department for Education released guidance ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’ to help schools, trusts, governing bodies, and local authorities maintain high levels of school attendance and improve consistency of support. This guidance became statutory from August 2024.
The key points:
- Clarity of expectation schools, trusts and local authorities will all have clearly defined statutory roles for the first time, set out in a clear table of responsibilities
- Earlier intervention: Schools will have legal responsibilities to proactively improve attendance for the first time (beyond existing requirements to record accurately) underpinned by timelier sharing of attendance data.
- Support first: All children and young people and parents no matter where they live in the country will have clear expectations from their school, be informed about their child’s attendance and have access to early intervention.
- Targeted whole family support: Attendance teams in Local Authority’s (LAs) will work in tandem with early help to provide a whole-family response with a single assessment, plan, and lead practitioner.
- Independent schools: data will be collected for the first time and will receive the same support from LAs.
Key definitions
Overall absence is collated as the number of sessions missed out of total possible sessions of attendance.
Persistent absence is defined as pupil attendance which falls below 90%.
Severe absence is defined as pupil attendance below 50%.
Attendance Strategy: 1 September 2026 to 28 February 2028
Refreshed following the 2025/26 attendance evaluation, including locality practice
Inspection-ready 18-month strategy and action plan
September 2026
Our commitment: Every young person, in every school and setting, is supported to attend, belong, learn and thrive. Attendance is everyone’s responsibility, with schools, families, Devon County Council and partners acting early and together.
Document control
| Field | Position |
|---|---|
| Strategy period | 1 September 2026 to 28 February 2028, an 18-month improvement period. |
| Action plan period | 1 September 2026 to 28 February 2028, coterminous with the strategy. |
| Baseline | 2025/26 attendance evaluation and associated local management information. |
| Formal reviews | March 2027, September 2027 and February 2028. |
| Governance | Devon Attendance Strategy Group, with direct DCC assurance for statutory duties. |
| Data status | 2025/26 local figures remain subject to final validation; published comparators are generally 2024/25. |
5.1 Locality practice framework
The three localities will work to one minimum practice standard while retaining flexibility to respond to local communities, school structures and patterns of need. Locality activity will be visible to the Attendance Strategy Group and DCC senior governance through a standard evidence set.
- Maintain a validated locality scorecard covering attendance, persistent absence, severe absence, phase, SEN Support, EHC plans, Child Protection plans, part-time timetables, suspension, exclusion and suitable education.
- Identify priority schools, settings, cohorts and children using agreed thresholds, professional judgement and trend evidence.
- Provide each priority school with a named lead, a time-bound plan, proportionate support and challenge, and a recorded review of impact.
- Use Targeted Support Meetings consistently, with barriers, responsibilities, actions, dates, escalation and outcomes recorded.
- Review severely absent children and children on prolonged part-time timetables through locality multi-agency arrangements, escalating unresolved barriers promptly.
- Moderate locality decisions and practice across Devon so that access to support, challenge and escalation is equitable.
- Capture child, family and school experience and use this evidence to improve the locality offer.
- Report implementation and impact, including where activity has not improved attendance or access to full-time education.
Inspection use: The strategy separates the evidence of need, partnership delivery through the Strategy Group, DCC-owned statutory actions, and the evidence required to demonstrate impact.
1. Executive summary and inspection position
The 2025/26 evaluation provides the baseline for a focused 18-month improvement strategy. Devon’s strongest risks are secondary attendance, persistent and severe absence, outcomes for children with EHC plans, attendance for children subject to Child Protection plans, the scale and duration of part-time timetables, and variation in locality practice. The strategy moves from description of activity to measurable delivery, consistent locality implementation, case-level assurance and sustained outcomes.
Overall evaluation: Attendance remains a significant inclusion risk. Primary attendance is a relative strength, while the secondary and EHC plan positions require accelerated and visible improvement.
| Measure | 2025/26 Devon local baseline | Latest published comparator | Inspection evaluation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall attendance | 92.30% | England 2024/25: 93.22% | Below latest published benchmark. |
| Persistent absence | 20.20% | England 2024/25: 18.14% | Around one in five pupils. |
| Severe absence | 2.70% | England 2024/25: 2.39% | Improved locally but remains high risk. |
| Secondary attendance | 88.80% | England 2024/25: 91.56% | Principal phase challenge. |
| Secondary persistent absence | 32.30% | England 2024/25: 23.37% | Requires dedicated improvement strand. |
| EHC plan attendance | 81.89% | England 2024/25: 87.26% | Highest-priority cohort. |
| EHC plan persistent absence | 42.40% | England 2024/25: 34.28% | Significant concern. |
| EHC plan severe absence | 13.60% | England 2024/25: 7.50% | Significant inclusion and safeguarding risk. |
Inspection-facing strengths
- Established countywide strategy governance and an Attendance Network.
- Locality infrastructure, named Inclusion Partners and Targeted Support Meetings.
- Established legal intervention arrangements and weekly Section 19 decision-making.
- Improving data systems capable of cohort, school and locality analysis.
Inspection-facing improvement priorities
- Dedicated secondary persistent and severe absence improvement.
- Case-level assurance for every severely absent child with an EHC plan.
- Stronger approval, review, end-date and reintegration controls for part-time timetables.
- Clearer multi-agency routes for health-related and emotionally based absence.
- Quantified coverage, quality, timeliness and impact for DCC statutory duties.
- Consistent locality operating expectations, with each locality using a common scorecard, priority-setting method and escalation framework.
- Validated locality-by-phase and locality-by-cohort intelligence, supported by regular moderation and peer challenge.
- Stronger locality ownership of school support, multi-agency problem-solving and evidence of impact for children.
2. Vision, outcomes and principles
Vision: An inclusive education system in which every child is known, safe, welcomed and supported to access suitable full-time education, with barriers identified early and removed through relational, evidence-informed and accountable partnership action.
Outcomes by 28 February 2028
- Overall attendance improves and the gap to the latest published national benchmark narrows.
- Persistent and severe absence reduce, with accelerated improvement in secondary education.
- Attendance improves for pupils with EHC plans and at SEN Support.
- Every severely absent child has an accountable plan and access to suitable education.
- Fewer children experience prolonged or weakly governed part-time timetables.
- Schools receive consistent support, challenge, guidance and access to effective practice.
- Partnership and DCC governance can evidence implementation, impact, equity and learning.
- Locality teams demonstrate consistent practice while responding to the distinct needs of Exeter and East, North and Mid, and South and West.
- Variation between localities, phases, schools and vulnerable cohorts is identified early, challenged and reduced.
Principles
| Principle | Application |
|---|---|
| Attendance is everyone’s responsibility | Schools, trusts, DCC, health, social care, families and communities share responsibility for removing barriers. |
| Support first, not support only | Early help and barrier removal are combined with fair formal support and legal intervention where appropriate. |
| Belonging and inclusion | Safe learning communities, reasonable adjustments and appropriate provision underpin attendance. |
| Earlier, precise action | Timely data identifies emerging risk before absence becomes entrenched. |
| Child and family voice | Plans are understandable and informed by lived experience. |
| One child, one joined-up plan | Assessment, provision, review and leadership are aligned across services. |
| Equity and accountability | Impact is tested for cohorts whose attendance is lowest. |
3. Evidence-led self-evaluation
Primary attendance was 94.75% in 2025/26. Overall severe absence reduced from 3.21% to 2.70%, permanent exclusions reduced from 153 to 114, and the number of children suspended reduced from 4,679 to 4,357. These strengths sit alongside major cohort and phase risks.
- Secondary attendance fell to 88.80% and secondary persistent absence rose to 32.30%.
- EHC plan attendance fell to 81.89%, persistent absence rose to 42.40% and severe absence to 13.60%.
- SEN Support persistent absence remained high at 31.00%.
- Part-time timetables increased from 1,618 to 2,219; 1,021 related to SEN Support and 771 to EHC plans.
- The number of suspended children with EHC plans increased for a third year, reaching 818.
| Locality | Attendance 2025/26 | Persistent absence | Severe absence | Evaluation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exeter and East | 92.59% | 19.5% | 2.5% | High volume of persistent absence. |
| North and Mid | 91.75% | 21.5% | 3.0% | Weakest whole-population position. |
| South and West | 92.60% | 19.9% | 2.5% | Highest attendance and lowest severe-absence count. |
Data limitation: Headline data does not by itself explain reasons, duration, placement type, primary need, deprivation, social-care overlap, transport or waiting-time effects. These factors will be developed through the action plan.
4. Strategic priorities and delivery model
| Priority | Strategic intent |
|---|---|
| Leadership, culture and communication | One shared attendance narrative and visible expectations. |
| Data, intelligence and accountability | Timely school, locality, cohort and case-level insight. |
| Secondary persistent and severe absence | Dedicated targeted improvement, peer leadership and escalation. |
| SEND and access to suitable education | Prioritise EHC plan severe absence and embed attendance in SEND review. |
| Families, health and multi-agency support | Coherent routes to whole-family, health, safeguarding and community support. |
| Full-time education and reintegration | Part-time timetables are exceptional, time-limited and linked to reintegration. |
| School support and professional learning | Named support, regular conversations, networks, data packs and training. |
| Formal support and legal intervention | Fair, consistent use within a support-first graduated response. |
| Locality practice and accountability | A common locality operating framework, adapted to local need, with validated scorecards, priority-school and cohort plans, multi-agency problem-solving, peer moderation and measurable impact. |
Graduated response
| Level | Core response | Required evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Universal | Belonging, inclusive practice, accurate registers, clear expectations and capable staff. | Policy, communication, training reach and attendance trend. |
| Targeted | Early identification, locality prioritisation, Inclusion Partner support, Targeted Support Meetings and family planning. | Locality scorecard; barrier, action, owner, review date, escalation and impact. |
| Specialist | Locality-coordinated multi-agency plan for severe absence, SEND, health, safeguarding or multiple needs. | Named lead, suitable education, provision, review, escalation and locality case assurance. |
| Formal or legal | Attendance contract, ESO, penalty notice or prosecution where appropriate. | Support history, decision rationale, legal checks and outcome. |
5. Governance, accountability and statutory assurance
Critical distinction: The Strategy Group drives partnership delivery. It does not transfer duties held by DCC, schools, trusts, governing bodies or other statutory agencies. DCC will maintain direct assurance that its own duties are discharged.
| Level | Core role | Evidence and cadence |
|---|---|---|
| DCC senior governance | Assure duties, resources, risks, equality and cross-service contribution. | Quarterly exception and assurance report. |
| Attendance Strategy Group | Own priorities, review data, oversee partnership actions, unblock barriers and escalate risk. | Termly action, decision and risk log. |
| Locality leadership | Own locality scorecards and improvement plans; identify priority schools, cohorts and children; coordinate school support, multi-agency problem-solving and escalation; moderate practice across Devon. | Monthly locality operational review; half-termly exception report; termly scorecard and impact narrative to the Strategy Group. |
| School support and challenge | Named contact, regular conversations, TSMs, challenge and escalation. | Coverage, action and impact record. |
| Attendance Network | Share effective practice and identify system barriers. | Half-termly programme and learning record. |
Formal review points
| Review | Purpose |
|---|---|
| March 2027 | Six-month review of implementation, early outcomes, statutory assurance and slippage. |
| September 2027 | Twelve-month evaluation and action-plan reset for the final six months. |
| February 2028 | Final evaluation of impact, statutory assurance, equity and next strategic period. |
6. Performance framework
The 2025/26 local evaluation is the baseline. Validated targets should be approved through governance. Until then, the required direction and implementation standards below apply.
| Measure | Baseline | Outcome or standard by February 2028 | Review |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall attendance | 92.30% | Improve and narrow gap to latest published benchmark. | Monthly or termly |
| Persistent absence | 20.20% | Reduce, with accelerated secondary improvement. | Monthly or termly |
| Severe absence | 2.70% | Reduce; every child case-assured. | Monthly |
| Secondary attendance | 88.80% | Improve across Devon and in priority schools. | Monthly or termly |
| Secondary persistent absence | 32.30% | Reduce and narrow school variation. | Monthly or termly |
| EHC plan attendance | 81.89% | Improve. | Monthly |
| EHC plan severe absence | 13.60% | Reduce; 100% have named lead and current plan. | Monthly |
| SEN Support persistent absence | 31.00% | Reduce with evidenced graduated response. | Termly |
| Part-time timetables | 2,219 | Reduce number and duration; 100% have review/end dates. | Monthly |
| Children suspended with EHC plan | 818 | Reverse three-year increase. | Termly |
| School support coverage | Not quantified | 100% named contacts and recorded regular conversations. | Termly |
| Impact after intervention | Not consistently reported | Return to full time and sustained attendance reported. | Termly |
| Locality scorecard completeness | Not consistently standardised | 100% of localities use the common validated scorecard and provide a termly impact narrative. | Monthly or termly |
| Priority-school locality plans | Not consistently quantified | 100% of identified priority schools/settings have a named lead, baseline, actions, milestones and reviewed impact. | Half-termly |
| Locality TSM coverage and quality | Not consistently reported | Coverage and quality are reported by locality; actions and impact meet the common standard. | Termly |
| Locality severe-absence case assurance | Not consistently reported | 100% of identified cases have a named lead, current plan, suitable-education decision and review date. | Monthly |
| Locality variation and equity | Unvalidated 2025/26 locality baseline | Validated phase/cohort variation is reviewed; unwarranted variation in practice and outcomes reduces. | Termly |
7. Eighteen-month action plan: 1 September 2026 to 28 February 2028
The plan is coterminous with the strategy. Partnership actions are driven through the Devon Attendance Strategy Group. DCC statutory actions remain directly owned and assured by the Council.
7.1 Partnership delivery through the Strategy Group
| ID | Action | Lead | Delivery window | Evidence | Review |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | Approve, communicate and mobilise the refreshed whole-area strategy. | Strategy Group | Sep-Nov 2026 | Approved strategy, partner commitments, communications. | Mar 2027 |
| P2 | Sustain the Devon Attendance Network and evaluate changes in practice. | Strategy Group / schools | Sep 2026-Feb 2028 | Reach, resources, feedback and practice impact. | Termly |
| P3 | Create a secondary persistent and severe absence improvement strand. | Secondary system leaders | Sep 2026-Feb 2028 | Priority schools, plans, peer support and outcomes. | Mar/Sep 2027; Feb 2028 |
| P4 | Deliver one SEND attendance dashboard and monthly exception report. | Attendance / SEND / Performance | Sep 2026-Mar 2027 | Phase, locality, school, SEN, PA/SA and PTT data. | Monthly thereafter |
| P5 | Review every severely absent child with an EHC plan. | SEND / schools / health / locality | From Sep 2026 | Barrier, lead, provision, review and return plan. | Monthly |
| P6 | Agree a pathway for medical and emotionally based absence. | Education / health / SEND / family support | Sep 2026-Mar 2027 | Published route, responsibilities and escalation. | Sep 2027; Feb 2028 |
| P7 | Strengthen part-time timetable governance and reintegration. | Strategy Group / SEND / schools | Sep 2026-Jul 2027 | Approval, review/end dates and exception report. | Monthly thereafter |
| P8 | Embed attendance in early help, social-care, PEP and SEND reviews. | Education / social care / Virtual School / SEND | Sep 2026-Feb 2028 | Sample audit shows barriers, action and outcome. | Termly |
| P9 | Strengthen child and family voice and response. | Participation / parent-carer partners | Jan-Sep 2027 | Themes, response and experience measures. | Termly thereafter |
| P10 | Coordinate professional learning and evaluate practice impact. | Strategy Group / Network | Sep 2026-Feb 2028 | Needs analysis, programme, reach and impact. | Termly |
| P11 | Link attendance, suspension, exclusion, AP and reintegration oversight. | Inclusion / AP partners | Sep 2026-Feb 2028 | Joined data and cohort deep dives. | Termly |
| P12 | Implement a common locality attendance practice framework. | Locality leads / Inclusion Partners | Sep 2026-Mar 2027 | Agreed minimum standards, operating guidance, scorecards, TSM expectations, escalation routes and moderation arrangements. | Mar 2027; termly thereafter |
| P13 | Produce and deliver a locality attendance improvement plan in each locality. | Locality leads / school and trust partners | Oct 2026-Feb 2028 | Validated baseline; phase, cohort and school priorities; named actions, milestones, risks and impact narrative. | Half-termly; formal reviews |
| P14 | Establish locality multi-agency attendance and access reviews for severe absence and prolonged reduced timetables. | Locality education / SEND / social care / health | Nov 2026-Feb 2028 | Named cohort, case decisions, suitable-education assurance, escalation, review dates and outcomes. | Monthly |
| P15 | Introduce cross-locality moderation and peer challenge. | Strategy Group / locality leads | Jan 2027-Feb 2028 | Quarterly moderation of thresholds, TSM practice, case escalation, support offers and impact; actions tracked. | Quarterly |
| P16 | Develop locality practice learning through the Attendance Network. | Locality leads / Attendance Network | Jan 2027-Feb 2028 | Locality case studies, school-led practice exchange, thematic learning and evidence of changed practice. | Termly |
7.2 DCC statutory duty delivery and assurance
| ID | DCC duty or action | Owner | Minimum evidence | Assurance date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 | Maintain whole-area strategy and frontline-service ownership. | Education leadership | Approved plan and cross-service governance. | Quarterly |
| D2 | Assure School Attendance Support Team function, capacity and operating model. | DCC Education | Structure, standards, capacity and coverage. | Dec 2026; Sep 2027 |
| D3 | Provide every school with a named attendance contact. | Locality services | Current list and 100% coverage. | Oct 2026; ongoing |
| D4 | Hold and quality assure regular conversations and Targeted Support Meetings consistently across all localities. | Inclusion Partners | Locality schedules, school coverage, sampled quality, actions, escalation and impact. | Termly |
| D5 | Provide or facilitate whole-family support and lead practice where DCC is best placed. | Early help / locality | Routes, timeliness, plans and outcomes. | Mar/Sep 2027 |
| D6 | Work jointly on formal support, safeguarding and legal intervention. | Attendance Legal / social care | Decision rationale, consistency, equality and outcomes. | Sep 2027; Feb 2028 |
| D7 | Make severe absence the top support priority and assure suitable education. | DCC multi-service leads | 100% cohort has safeguarding decision and current plan. | Monthly from Oct 2026 |
| D8 | Use validated county and locality data to identify schools, cohorts, children and area-wide barriers. | Performance / Attendance | Validated locality dashboards, data governance, exception reports and evidence of action. | Dec 2026; monthly |
| D9 | Coordinate SEND/medical support and arrange suitable education where required. | SEND / Section 19 / Education | Referral, decision, provision start, review and outcome. | Termly from Mar 2027 |
| D10 | Monitor and improve attendance of children with a social worker. | CSC / Virtual School | Shared data, plan audit, training and interventions. | Mar/Jul 2027; Feb 2028 |
| D11 | Discharge Virtual School attendance responsibilities. | Virtual School Head | Monitoring, PEP quality, advice/challenge and impact. | Termly |
| D12 | Maintain notifications and returns, including prolonged absence and roll deletion. | Attendance / CME | Compliance, follow-up timeliness and escalation. | Mar 2027; Jan 2028 |
| D13 | Identify and track children missing education. | CME service | Register, risk, duration, destination and outcome. | Monthly; deep dives Mar/Sep 2027 |
| D14 | Assure fair and consistent use of penalty notices and legal powers. | Attendance Legal | Code, training, audit, equality and impact. | Sep 2027; Feb 2028 |
| D15 | Assure equality, data governance, complaints learning and workforce competence. | DCC responsible owners | EIA, data-sharing, learning, training and supervision. | Quarterly from Dec 2026 |
| D16 | Assure consistent locality attendance practice and equitable access to DCC support. | Education leadership / locality leads | Common standards, capacity and coverage review, cross-locality moderation, exception reporting and impact. | Mar/Sep 2027; Feb 2028 |
8. Inspection evidence and quality assurance
| Inspection question | Evidence Devon will present |
|---|---|
| Does Devon know strengths and risks? | Validated dashboard, evaluation, trends, cohort/locality/school variation and data limitations. |
| Are priorities proportionate? | Focus on secondary PA/SA, EHC plan attendance, PTT and linked suspension/reintegration. |
| Is there coherent partnership delivery? | Group minutes, decisions, workstream products, network evidence and locality plans. |
| Does DCC discharge its duties? | Duty checklist, coverage, case audits, timeliness, legal and Virtual School evidence. |
| Is support effective? | Case journeys showing barrier removal, suitable provision, attendance and sustained reintegration. |
| Is practice equitable? | Cohort/locality comparison, moderation, equality analysis and lived experience. |
| Does leadership adapt? | Formal review reports, risk log, action resets and evidence of response to slippage. |
| Is locality practice consistent and effective? | Validated locality scorecards; improvement plans; priority-school records; TSM quality audits; severe-absence case assurance; cross-locality moderation; impact and lived-experience evidence. |
Core inspection evidence file
- Strategy, action plan, governance map, terms of reference and partner commitments.
- Validated evaluation and dashboard with definitions and extraction dates.
- Strategy Group agendas, minutes, decisions, risks and action tracking.
- Locality scorecards, locality improvement plans, priority-school and cohort records, TSM coverage and quality audit, multi-agency case reviews and cross-locality moderation.
- Termly locality impact narratives showing what changed, for whom, and how practice was adjusted where outcomes did not improve.
- Severe absence and EHC plan case assurance with anonymised case journeys.
- Part-time timetable register, duration, reviews, end dates and reintegration outcomes.
- Section 19 timeliness, provision and outcomes.
- Children with a social worker and Virtual School reports and sampled plans.
- Legal intervention effectiveness, consistency and equality audit.
- Training, network reach, changed practice and child or family feedback.
Data quality controls
- Validate 2025/26 local figures and record extraction dates.
- Keep local management information distinct from published comparators.
- Do not present different-year figures as same-year statistical comparisons.
- Reconcile total, cohort and locality datasets before publication.
- Develop reasons, duration, placement and overlapping-vulnerability analysis.
Appendix A: Statutory duty assurance checklist
Download and print a version of the strategy to use the checklist
Appendix B: Data definitions and source notes
| Term | Definition or note |
|---|---|
| Attendance rate | Percentage of possible sessions attended. |
| Persistent absence | 10% or more of the pupil’s own possible sessions missed. |
| Severe absence | 50% or more of the pupil’s own possible sessions missed. |
| Local data | Devon 2025/26 management information, subject to final validation. |
| Published data | Latest DfE, regional or statistical-neighbour figure in the source data book, generally 2024/25. |
| Comparison convention | Current local data compared with latest published data is not a same-year statistical comparison. |
Source documents
- Attendance evaluation 2025/26 Annex A, September 2026.
- School data book July 2026, local data updated 3 to 4 August 2026.
- Devon County Council Attendance Strategy and Action Plan 2025-2027.
- Devon Attendance Strategy Group Terms of Reference.
- Devon Local Authority Summary of Update on Statutory Duties for School Attendance, July 2026.
Approval and review
| Forum or role | Decision | Date | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Devon Attendance Strategy Group | Approve partnership delivery | ||
| DCC senior responsible officer | Approve statutory assurance arrangements | ||
| Relevant DCC governance forum | Receive and scrutinise strategy, risk and progress | ||
| Six-month review | Evaluate implementation and early impact | March 2027 | |
| Twelve-month review | Evaluate impact and reset final six months | September 2027 | |
| Final review | Evaluate 18-month impact and agree next period | February 2028 |