Guide · For tutors, centres and groups
Paper register, spreadsheet or app: keeping attendance for a small group
Paper is fine for one small group. A spreadsheet suits a tutor or a group that wants weekly totals. An app earns its place when you have several staff, several sessions a week or more than a couple of dozen children.
Last checked 10 November 2026. We make an attendance app for home-education providers, so weigh our view accordingly.
What any method has to do
To answer a council notice under the new Act, you need per child:
- name, date of birth and home address
- total time with you
- time without a parent actively involved
Any method that gives you those, accurately, is good enough.
Compared
| Paper | Spreadsheet | App | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Free | Monthly fee |
| Set-up time | None | An hour | Minutes |
| Weekly totals | By hand | With formulas | Automatic |
| Several staff | Awkward | Possible | Easy |
| Risk of loss | High | Medium | Low |
| Security | A locked drawer | Depends on sharing settings | Depends on the provider |
| Answering a notice | Slow | Moderate | Fast |
Paper
Good for: one group, one organiser, under about fifteen children.
Watch for: a single copy that can be lost, and totals that nobody adds up until a letter arrives. Photograph each sheet.
Spreadsheet
Good for: sole tutors, and groups with one person who is comfortable with formulas.
Watch for: sharing. A sheet shared by link with a whole group exposes every child's address to every family. Share with named people only.
App
Good for: tuition centres, multi-day settings and groups with several leaders.
Watch for: where the data is stored, whether you can export everything, and what happens to your records if you stop paying.
Our recommendation
Start with the simplest method you will actually keep up. A paper register filled in every week beats an app nobody opens. Move up when adding the totals starts to take real time.
Whatever you choose
- add a column for whether a parent took part
- total the hours weekly
- keep it private