Note excusing a pupil's absence from school (Austria)
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This document is in German
The PDF you download is in German — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
The written note by which parents — or pupils of full age themselves — tell the class teacher in Austria why a pupil stayed away from lessons: with name and class, the days, the reason without a diagnosis and the day the school was told. Under Austria's Compulsory Schooling Act (§ 9 SchPflG) and School Education Act (§ 45 SchUG) the school must be told without delay, in writing if it asks — the same in every Land. For illness, a medical appointment that could not be moved or an urgent family matter. In German, ready to print and sign.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Sender
- Sender's address
- Phone
- School
- Class teacher
- School's postal address
- City
- Date
- Pupil
- Class
- Absent from
- Absent until
- Reason for the absence
- Notes
- Date the school was told of the absence
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- When and how must a school in Austria be told that a pupil is absent?
- Without delay, to the class teacher or the head, orally or in writing and with the reason. If either asks for it in writing, the notice must be written (§ 9 SchPflG for children of compulsory-school age, § 45 SchUG for all others). The rule is the same in every Land. So phone on the first day and send this note afterwards. Pupils of full age tell the school themselves.
- Must a doctor's confirmation go with an absence note for a school in Austria?
- Not from the start. If an illness lasts more than a week, or a child of compulsory-school age is often absent for short spells, the class teacher or the head may ask for a doctor's confirmation where there is doubt (§ 9 SchPflG). The note gives only the reason, such as illness, and no diagnosis; if the school asks for a confirmation, send it on afterwards.
- What applies if an absence from school in Austria is known in advance?
- Then permission to stay away is asked for beforehand, rather than excusing the absence afterwards. For children of compulsory-school age it is granted only as far as strictly necessary: single lessons up to a day by the class teacher, several days up to a week by the head, longer by the Land's education directorate (§ 9 Abs 6 SchPflG). Past compulsory schooling, the class teacher decides up to a day and the head beyond that (§ 45 Abs 4 SchUG). Such a pupil who is absent without excuse and does not answer a written request within a week may be treated as having left the school (§ 45 Abs 5 SchUG).
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