Is a reduced timetable legal for my SEND child?

The default: full-time education

Every child of compulsory school age is entitled to a full-time education suitable to their age, ability and aptitude. That entitlement sits in the Education Act 1996 and is the starting point for any conversation about reduced timetables. A reduced timetable is, by definition, a departure from that entitlement, and it has to be justified.

The Department for Education's Working together to improve school attendance statutory guidance (current edition) sets out the rules. Reduced timetables are permitted only:

• In exceptional circumstances, where they're judged to be in the child's best interests.
• As a short-term measure, not an open-ended arrangement.
• With written parental agreement. A verbal nod under pressure does not count.
• With a clear plan, in writing, for the child to return to full-time education.
• Reviewed regularly (the guidance suggests fortnightly; some councils require more frequent reviews).

A reduced timetable that doesn't meet all of these is not lawful.

When schools use them properly

Used properly, a reduced timetable can be a genuine transition tool. Examples:

• A child returning after a period of school refusal, being eased back over 2–4 weeks before a clear return date.
• A child with new significant medical needs whose stamina is being rebuilt while the school puts adjustments in place.

In each case the reduced timetable is temporary, named in writing, agreed by you, and has a clear endpoint.

When schools use them improperly

Used improperly, a reduced timetable is a way for a school to reduce the time a difficult-to-include child is on site without going through formal exclusion. This is sometimes called off-rolling when it leads to the child being moved off the school's roll entirely. Signs of improper use:

• No written agreement; the school just told you the timetable starts Monday.
• No clear plan to return to full-time; “we'll see how it goes.”
• The reduced timetable has been in place for more than a few weeks with no review.
• The school is using it because they can't or won't put the right reasonable adjustments in place under the Equality Act 2010 (s.20 reasonable adjustments duty).
• The reduced timetable corresponds to the parts of the day the school finds your child most difficult, rather than to the parts of the day your child finds hardest.

A long-term reduced timetable used as a substitute for proper SEN support or formal exclusion can amount to unlawful exclusion (the Suspension and Permanent Exclusion guidance is clear on this). It can also breach the Equality Act 2010 if the underlying reason is the school's failure to make reasonable adjustments for your child's disability.

What to do if it doesn't meet the rules

1. Ask the school for the reduced timetable in writing, with the start date, the end date, the review dates, and the plan to return. If they can't produce this, that's the first sign the arrangement isn't compliant.
2. Withdraw your agreement in writing if you didn't agree voluntarily or if the conditions aren't being met. Send the withdrawal to the headteacher and copy the council's SEN team. Once you withdraw agreement, the school cannot lawfully continue the reduced timetable.
3. Notify the local authority. Schools should report reduced timetables to the council, but many don't. A letter from you to the council's SEN team naming the situation triggers the council's awareness; the council has duties under section 19 of the Education Act 1996 to arrange suitable education for children not in school.
4. Make a formal complaint if the school doesn't engage: first to the school under its complaints procedure, then to the council, then to the Department for Education or the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
5. Consider an EHC needs assessment request (or amendment to an existing plan) if the reason for the reduced timetable is unmet need. The argument is: full-time education is the entitlement, and the right way to meet it is the right support, not less school.

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