What the law allows

22. Teachers have a legal power to put pupils aged under 18 in detention.

23.  Schools must make clear to pupils and parents that they use detention (including detention outside of school hours) as a sanction.

24. The times outside normal school hours when detention can be given (the ‘permitted day of detention’) include:

a. any school day where the pupil does not have permission to be absent

b. weekends - except the weekend preceding or following the half term break

c. non-teaching days – usually referred to as ‘training days’, ‘INSET days’ or ‘non-contact days’.

25. The headteacher can decide which members of staff can put pupils in detention. For example, they can limit the power to heads of year or heads of department only, or they can decide that all members of staff, including support staff, can impose detentions.

Matters schools should consider when imposing detentions

26. Parental consent is not required for detentions.

27. As with any disciplinary penalty a member of staff must act reasonably, as described in paragraph 15 above, when imposing a detention. 

28. With lunchtime detentions, staff should allow reasonable time for the pupil to eat, drink and use the toilet.

Detentions outside school hours 

29. School staff should not issue a detention where they know that doing so would compromise a child's safety. When ensuring that a detention outside school hours is reasonable, staff issuing the detention should consider the following points:

  • Whether the detention is likely to put the pupil at risk.
  • Whether the pupil has known caring responsibilities which mean that the detention is unreasonable.
  • Whether the parents ought to be informed of the detention. In many cases it will be necessary to do so, but this will depend on the circumstances. For instance, notice may not be necessary for a short after school detention where the pupil can get home safely.
  • Whether suitable travel arrangements can be made by the parent for the pupil. It does not matter if making these arrangements is inconvenient for the parent.