The rules governing how a pupil can be registered or deregistered from a school (placed on roll or taken off roll) are set out in the Pupil Registration Regulations 2006 as amended. NB the publicly available version of the Regulations has not been fully updated which is why I have put together Regulation 8 below.

Being Placed on Roll

It is only a parent who can register a child with a school A child does not "become registered" at a school by the parent filling in a preference form or even by the school being named on the EHCP or ordered by the SEN tribunal. The child becomes a registered pupil from the "expected first day of attendance" which is the first day that the parent has agreed or notified the school that the child will attend. [Source = Regulation 5] This means that parents can DECLINE the school place BEFORE the child is first due to attend, rather than "deregistering".

Being Taken off Roll

Regulation 8 sets out the grounds on which a pupil's name can legitimately be taken off roll. Schools are not allowed to remove the pupil's name from the school roll under any other circumstances than those listed below. NB this does not mean the child is obligated to attend in all circumstances - more on truancy here and EOTAS here.

8(1)(a) - where the pupil is registered at the school in accordance with the requirements of a school attendance order, that another school is substituted by the local authority for that named in the order or the order is revoked by the local authority on the ground that arrangements have been made for the child to receive efficient full-time education suitable to his age, ability and aptitude otherwise than at school.
8(1)(b) - except where it has been agreed by the proprietor that the pupil should be registered at more than one school, in a case not falling within sub-paragraph (a) or regulation 9, that he has been registered as a pupil at another school.
8(1)(c) - where a pupil is registered at more than one school, and in a case not falling within sub-paragraph (j) or (m) or regulation 9, that he has ceased to attend the school and the proprietor of any other school at which he is registered has given consent to the deletion.
8(1)(d) - in a case not falling within sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph, that he has ceased to attend the school and the proprietor has received written notification from the parent that the pupil is receiving education otherwise than at school. [ie elective home education]
8(1)(e) - except in the case of a boarder, that he has ceased to attend the school and no longer ordinarily resides at a place which is a reasonable distance from the school at which he is registered.
8(1)(f) - in the case of a pupil granted leave of absence in accordance with regulation 7(1A), that — (i) the pupil has failed to attend the school within the ten school days immediately following the expiry of the period for which such leave was granted; (ii) the proprietor does not have reasonable grounds to believe that the pupil is unable to attend the school by reason of sickness or any unavoidable cause; and (iii) the proprietor and the local authority have failed, after jointly making reasonable enquiries, to ascertain where the pupil is.
8(1)(g) - that he is certified by the school medical officer as unlikely to be in a fit state of health to attend school before ceasing to be of compulsory school age, and neither he nor his parent has indicated to the school the intention to continue to attend the school after ceasing to be of compulsory school age.
8(1)(h) - that he has been continuously absent from the school for a period of not less than twenty school days and — (i) at no time was his absence during that period authorised by the proprietor in accordance with regulation 6(2); (ii) the proprietor does not have reasonable grounds to believe that the pupil is unable to attend the school by reason of sickness or any unavoidable cause; and (iii) the proprietor of the school and the local authority have failed, after jointly making reasonable enquiries, to ascertain where the pupil is.
8(1)(i) - that he is detained in pursuance of a final order made by a court or of an order of recall made by a court or the Secretary of State, that order being for a period of not less than four months, and the proprietor does not have reasonable grounds to believe that the pupil will return to the school at the end of that period.
8(1)( j ) - that the pupil has died.
8(1)(k) - that the pupil will cease to be of compulsory school age before the school next meets and — (i) the relevant person has indicated that the pupil will cease to attend the school; or (ii) the pupil does not meet the academic entry requirements for admission to the school’s sixth form.
8(1)(l) - in the case of a pupil at a school other than a maintained school, an Academy, a city technology college or a city college for the technology of the arts, that he has ceased to be a pupil of the school.
8(1)(m) - that he has been permanently excluded from the school.
8(1)(n) - where the pupil has been admitted to the school to receive nursery education, that he has not on completing such education transferred to a reception, or higher, class at the school.
8(1)(o) where— (i) the pupil is a boarder at a maintained school or an Academy; (ii) charges for board and lodging are payable by the parent of the pupil; and (iii) those charges remain unpaid by the pupil’s parent at the end of the school term to which they relate.

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Elective Home Education

Parents taking a child out of school to home educate come under Regulation 8 (1)(d) where it can be seen that one of the conditions is that the child has ceased to attend. In other words, the law does not provide for advance notification eg telling the school weeks or months ahead that the child won't be coming back after the school holidays. In these situations, CME guidance recommends that the school makes the local authority aware of parents' intentions with various possible consequences as I explain here.

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Informing the LA

Up to 2016 schools didn't necessarily have to notify the local authority when they took a child off roll. In 2016 this changed when the Department for Education amended the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006. Children Missing Education Guidance was also amended to reflect the changes.

Rules about informing the local authority when a pupil's name is removed from roll are set out in Regulation 12 although the legislation.gov.uk has not yet been updated to reflect changes to 12(3) and you need to click on "Changes and effects yet to be applied to the whole Instrument associated Parts and Chapters".

Since 2016 all schools including independent schools have been required to: inform their LA when they are about to delete a pupil’s name from the admission register under all fifteen grounds set out in Regulation 8; record details of the pupil’s residence, the name of the person with whom they will reside, the date from which they will reside there, and the name of the destination school (where they can reasonably obtain this information); inform their LA of the pupil's destination school and home address if the pupil is moving to a new school; provide information to their LA when registering new pupils within five days, including the pupil's address and previous school (where they can reasonably obtain this information). Schools and local authorities also have to co-operate in tracking children coming out of school.

In addition, LAs now have discretionary power to require the same information about standard transition points, ie when a child of compulsory school age begins school at the start of the first year or leaves school at the end of the final year. The Local Government Association (LGA) and the Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS) felt that the changes would help in identifying unregistered or illegal schools.

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Off-Rolling

The term "off-rolling" does not have a unique agreed definition. It is not synonymous with illegal exclusion because some off-rolling scenarios fall within the law. FFT Education Datalab is worth reading on this.

Ofsted's definition of offrolling is not straightforward. Ofsted defines it as "The practice of removing a pupil from the school roll without a formal, permanent exclusion or by encouraging a parent to remove their child from the school roll, when the removal is primarily in the interests of the school rather than in the best interests of the pupil." [SOURCE]

When Ofsted can be persuaded that the move off roll IS in the pupil's interest (eg into alternative provision) this will NOT be categorised as off-rolling.

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Related Pages

School Attendance
Deregistration
CME Children Missing Education Guidance