Magistrates courts are seeing more parents summoned for taking their children out of school for term-time holidays, with one father receiving a £166 fine after a 10-day trip abroad pushed his daughter's attendance below 75 per cent.
The local authority in that case warned: "Unfortunately the availability of cheap travel is not a defence." The father accepted guilt, and the magistrate told him: "You have a duty to send your daughter to school, and the council has a duty to prosecute you if you don't."
Rising fines and court action
In England, 492,825 penalty notices for unauthorised absences were issued to parents in 2024-25, according to the Guardian newspaper. Parents face fines, or in extreme cases, the theoretical possibility of three months in prison.
The case involved a family who travelled abroad for 10 days at the start of the summer term. The decision to pull their child out of school pushed her annual attendance rate below 75 per cent, prompting the local authority's warning.
New attendance targets from September
New school attendance targets are being launched in September under Labour Party Prime Minister Andy Burnham. Every mainstream state school will now get a target that takes into account each school's local circumstances, and it will be monitored rather than simply issued.
Education minister Paul Waugh has asked schools to look hard at Fridays, which he describes as a particular weak spot, and to consider putting on clubs and enrichment at the end of the week. The Department for Education will contact schools that are off-track to check they are aware and taking action, and may point them towards best-practice guidance or a local behaviour and attendance hub.
Local authority response
The changes kick in from September 1. A spokesperson for Kent county council said attendance in Kent schools was "broadly in line with the national average", adding that taking parents to court was "not a decision that is taken lightly and only where all other routes have failed."
