t another school in England or Wales, to send a CTF to the new school. Academies (including free schools) are also strongly encouraged to send CTFs when a pupil leaves to attend another school. Independent schools can be given access to school2school by the Department. Many independent schools also have Management Information Systems that are compatible with those used in the maintained sector and so would be able to download CTFs. Where a pupil transfers to a new school in Scotland or Northern Ireland the previous school in England is still required to send a CTF. The school2school system also contains a searchable area, where schools can upload CTFs of pupils who have left but their destination, next school is unknown, or the child has moved abroad or transferred to a non-maintained school. If a pupil arrives in a school and the previous school is unknown, schools should contact their local authority who will be able to search the database. There may be exceptional circumstances when standard rules for sending and receiving a CTF for a pupil might not apply. Each case would need to be judged on its merits in consultation with relevant parties. Circumstances when it is not considered appropriate to pass on details via a CTF might include a family escaping a violent partner; if the family is 27 In line with The Education (Pupil Information) (England) Regulations 2012 17 in a witness protection programme; or where there are concerns that the child is at risk of forced marriage. Guidance on how to share information in these circumstances is included in the CTF guidance. Sharing information with others Families moving between local authority areas can sometimes lead to a child who is unknown to any local authority and consequently missing education. Where a child has moved