School holiday fines: what you will pay for taking your child out of school during term time

The cost of treating your family to a holiday during school term time is significantly cheaper than during the school holidays.

So it’s not surprising that tens of thousands of parents take their children out of school every year in order to save money.

However, any absence not approved at schools in the UK is noted as an unauthorised absence and can land you in some pretty serious trouble

Here’s what you need to know.

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If your child is at an English state school and aged between five and 16 you need to ask their headteacher’s permission to take them out of school during term time.

Schools used to be able to use their discretion to allow up to 10 days’ term time holiday per school year in ‘special circumstances’.

But in September 2013 the rules were tightened and now head teachers can only grant term time absences in ‘exceptional circumstances’.

This may include attending a family member’s funeral, a wedding, visiting ill family or when an Armed Forces family member is on leave from a long tour of duty. But family holidays in order to bag a saving are unlikely to be accepted.

It’s up to the headteacher how many days your child can miss school if leave is granted. If a headteacher doesn’t authorise an absence and you choose to take your child or children out of school anyway it will go down as an unauthorised absence.

Authorised and unauthorised absences have to be reported to the Local Education Authority (the council responsible for education in the area) who can issue a fine.

There is a £60 fine per child per parent for unauthorised absence, which rises to £120 if you don’t pay within 21 days.

If you don’t pay within 28 days, you can be taken to court under the Education Act 1996. If found guilty, you’ll end up with a criminal record and face a fine of up to £2,500 as well as other measures like a jail sentence and a parenting order which requires you to go to parenting classes.

The rules are slightly different for schools in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as private schools. See further down this guide for more information.

Prices are guaranteed to jump when booking a holiday during the school holidays compared to doing so during the time kids are at school.

A five-day break in Woburn Forest Centre Parcs from 6th June 2016 for example will set a family of four back £499 for a two-bedroom Woodland Lodge. But choose to go in the first week of the summer holidays from 25th July and the cost jumps 130% to £1,149. That’s a premium of £650 for the same holiday.

In this scenario taking two kids out of school for a £240 fine is a no brainer compared to the savings you would make. But that might not always be the case.

You will need to weigh up whether paying £60 per child per parent is worth the savings you will get compared to booking your trip during term time.

However, figures show plenty of parents are choosing to take the hit. In a recent Freedom of Information request it was found 98 LEAs issued 50,414 fines in 2014/15 for children being taken out of school for term time family holiday in England – a 25% rise on the year before and up 173% from the 18,284 fines handed out by LEAs in 2012/13.

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You can’t appeal the fine through the council, but if you decide not to pay, the LEA can take you to court for the original absence where you can argue your case in front of a magistrate.

In October 2015 Jon Platt successfully fought the £120 fine he was issued with for taking his six-year-old daughter out of school to go on holiday to Disney World in Florida – missing six days of class.

The case was thrown out of Isle of Wight Magistrates Court after Mr Platt argued that the wording of Subsection 1 of Section 444 of the Education Act 1996 (which he was being charged with violating) required parents to ensure their children attended school regularly, which he did. Mr Platt’s daughter had 100% attendance up until the trip and 93.2% after the holiday was taken into consideration.

Theoretically if your child has a very good attendance record you could take the same route. But you will have to go to pay to go to court to prove your case and there is no guarantee that you will win. If the court finds you guilty of the offence you could get a criminal record and face a fine of up to £2,500 and/or jail time, a community order and a parenting order.

The Department for Education (DfE) said Mr Platt’s case doesn’t set a legal precedent as magistrates’ decisions were not binding in other courts.

It should also be noted that plenty of other families have gone to court and lost like the couple from Lancashire that had to hand over £650 last year.

Elsewhere in the UK the rules on term-time holiday and punishment for breaking them are slightly different.

Wales

In Wales headteachers still have the discretionary power to authorise 10 days of absence in certain circumstances like family holidays.

You will need to apply for permission in advance. If a headteacher refuses permission and you take them out anyway the time will be marked as an unauthorised absence and if this happens you could be fined.

Each local authority will have details on issuing penalty notices that will be set out in their individual Codes of Conduct, so check these before you make a decision.

The Welsh Government advises that a fine would be issued depending on a pupil’s previous absence record and only tend to be given out for failing to regularly attend school.

Scotland

In Scotland parents of school-aged children aren’t allowed to take their kids out of school during term-time unless it’s in exceptional circumstances.

So doing so to save money on a family holiday is unlikely to be authorised and will be noted as an unauthorised absence if you take them out anyway.

However, parents aren’t subject to the same £60 fine as those in England.

Instead Local Education Authorities (LEAs) can issue ‘Attendance Orders’ to make a parent explain a student’s absence. If they don’t comply they can be taken to court and fined up to £1,000, face jail time or both.

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland parents aren’t find £60 for unauthorised absences, but if a child’s attendance drops below 85% they can be referred to the Education Welfare Service (EWS).

Parent Only Prosecutions can be used as a last resort when parents fail to engage with the service and the EWS can apply to the courts to issue fines of up to £1,000 per child to parents of children who are not attending school regularly enough.

The rules on fines in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland apply to state schools.

Private and independent schools don’t have to follow the same rules as state schools so parents won’t face fines or court action.

However, private schools will have a code of conduct all parents and students are expected to follow and they do have to report some unauthorised absences to the LEA.

The Government’s bottom line on unauthorised absences is that they are detrimental to the child's education.

In research published in February 2015 it found even short gaps of 14 days in a child’s school attendance in year 10 and 11 can reduce their chances of achieving good GCSE qualifications by more than a quarter.

A DfE spokesperson said: “It is a myth that missing school even for a short time is harmless to a child’s education. Our evidence shows missing the equivalent of just one week a year from school can mean a child is significantly less likely to achieve good GCSE grades, having a lasting effect on their life chances.”