Part-time timetable
When a school asks your child to come in for fewer hours than everyone else. It should be rare, short term, reviewed often, and it needs your written agreement.
Applies in England
Schools sometimes suggest a shorter day or week as a way of helping a child who is struggling, often while support or an assessment is being sorted out. Government attendance guidance is clear about the limits: a part-time timetable should be exceptional, temporary and time limited, with a review date, and agreed in writing with the parent.
Your child keeps the right to full-time education. If a part-time timetable is suggested, ask for the plan in writing: what support will be in place, when it will be reviewed, and the date your child returns to full hours. A part-time timetable that drifts on for months, especially for a disabled child, can amount to discrimination, and you can ask for it to end at any time.
Related words
Where this comes from
- Working together to improve school attendance , Department for Education, working together to improve school attendance. Checked 2026-08-14.
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