Commentary on Sections and Schedules Part 3 – Maintained Schools Attendance targets Section 53: Attendance targets
153.Section 63 of the SSFA enables the Secretary of State or the NAW to require school governing bodies to set school-level targets for unauthorised absence. Unauthorised absences are absences that have not been approved by the school. The section extends this power to include authorised absence and will therefore enable the Secretary of State, or the NAW, to require specified schools to set targets to reduce their overall level of absence.