A Child Missing from Education (CME) is defined by the Department for Education (DfE) as "a child of compulsory school age who is not on a school roll, nor being educated otherwise". This is in line with CME Guidelines 2016.

Children Missing from Education are:

  • not on a school roll
  • not being educated in a school or anywhere else

Children Missing from Education are not:

  • children who are on roll of a school but are not in regular attendance. If a child is not attending their registered school or education provider, the school's attendance policy should be followed
  • children who are being Electively Home Educated (EHE)
  • children whose parent/carer has applied for a school place, and the application is being dealt with by the admissions procedure.