Children missing education
The children missing education (CME) service offers a referral service to all maintained schools, academies, free schools, and independent schools for students whose absence is unexplained and whereabouts unknown.
We offer a phone advice and guidance service available throughout the year during office hours.
You can download our:
- referral form
- policy and procedure - this policy is under review and will be updated shortly, email cme@birmingham.gov.uk for urgent enquiries or further information
If you have submitted a CME referral form, you should contact us before removing a student from the school register.
All CME referrals should be sent to cme@birmingham.gov.uk.
Make sure you use your encryption software when sending sensitive data to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
If you have any questions, you can phone a member of the CME team.
Important notice
If you visited the CME web content recently, you may have noticed some changes. A CME online form was launched prematurely, and due to technical issues, this form has been temporarily withdrawn.
We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.
What this means for you
Work will take place behind the scenes to improve our systems and deliver a better service to you.
While this is taking place, you should complete the downloadable referral form until we advise otherwise.
A new online form is being developed, and you will be notified of its launch next year.
How you can help us
As CME transforms the way it communicates and processes referrals, we want to make sure we get it right.
In the new year, we will be looking for expressions of interest from schools and partners who wish to participate in the CME focus group.
The purpose of the group is to make sure that our new systems are user-friendly and fit for purpose.
We value your opinions and judgments and wish to take you on the journey with us.
The education noticeboard will list all the latest developments, so make sure to keep checking it for opportunities to get involved.
Page last updated: 24 November 2025
