Major changes to the way parents are fined if they take their children out of school for the holidays during term time

Parents could be fined hundreds of pounds if they take their children out of school during term time as the Government seeks to improve attendance.

Fines for unauthorised absences will be £20 higher per day for the next academic year, marking the first time the fine has increased since it was introduced in 2013.

The new fines, which were introduced under the previous government, will come into force next week.

We explain why the Government has increased fines, how they work and how much they could charge you.

When will parents be fined?

Current rules state that children can only miss school if they are too ill to go or if they have received prior permission from the school.

If a parent wishes to take their child out of school during term time, there must be “exceptional circumstances” and a request must be made to the school principal in advance, who will authorise the absence at their discretion.

Local authorities control their own policies on when to issue fines, so the likelihood of receiving a fine will depend entirely on the council your child’s school belongs to.

To avoid inconsistencies between councils, the previous Government issued a new “national framework” setting out when a penalty notice should be considered by all schools.

The new guidelines state that schools should consider a fine if a child has missed 10 sessions, equivalent to five days of school, without prior permission.

How much will the fine be for parents?

The minimum fine for parents who take their children out of school during term time without permission is currently £60, but this will rise to £80 from 19 August.

If parents do not pay the fine within 21 days, it will double to £120, or £160 from August.

Fines are issued to each parent who allows their child to be absent from school. This means that if three siblings were absent without permission during the school term, each parent who allowed the absence would receive three separate fines.

While some families might pay the fine to save money on vacations outside of the summer holidays, when flight and hotel prices skyrocket, they could face higher fines.

If a parent receives a second fine for the same child within a three-year period, they will be charged £160 immediately.

Fines per parent will be limited to two fines within a three-year period and once that limit is reached, the Department for Education says a parenting order or prosecution will be considered.

If you go to court because your child has not attended school, you could be fined up to £2,500 and could appear on a parent’s future DBS certificate for “failing to protect a child’s education”.

Why are fines increasing?

The £20 increase in fines for absences comes after almost 400,000 penalty notices were issued to parents in England in 2022/23 for unauthorised school absences.

A record 350,000 parents, out of the 399,000 who received penalty notices, were fined for taking their children out of school for unauthorised holidays.

Earlier this year, the Conservative government introduced “care hubs” to help reduce persistent absences following the pandemic.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has confirmed that the increase in fines will remain in place after Labour won the election.

She told the BBC that “there will have to be consequences” for parents and that the practice was “here to stay”.

The government says: ‘For most pupils, the best place to be during term time is at school, surrounded by the support of their friends and teachers.

“This is important not only for your child’s learning, but also for their overall well-being, broader development and mental health.”

At the time, when the fine increases were announced, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: ‘It is not unreasonable to increase the level of fines for unauthorised absence, given that they have been set at £60 for a number of years.

‘However, it is important to understand that these fines are primarily applied to pupils who are absent from school during school holidays. While no one wants to be in the position of fining parents, there simply needs to be a sign that this is not acceptable.

“Not only does it affect the child’s education, but it also means that teachers have to spend time helping children catch up on lost learning. If everyone did this, it would be chaos.”