Can I take my child on holiday in Term time?
Parents and carers are strongly advised to avoid taking children out of school for family holidays during term time. Taking a holiday during term time will mean your child misses out on a portion of their educational entitlement and their right to the learning opportunities offered to them. Children who have missed school, even for a short period of time, often find it difficult to catch up.
If parents and carers consider the effects of lost learning and still decide to take a holiday during term time, a written request, in advance of the planned holiday, and in line with the school’s policy must be made.
Unfortunately, in some cases whereby written holiday requests have not been made by parents, and schools have been unable to successfully locate children missing from school as safe and well, safeguarding investigations will be carried out.
It remains the discretion of each head teacher, alongside school governors, to decide whether leave during term time will be authorised or not. Head teachers may not ordinarily grant any leave of absence during term time, unless there are exceptional circumstances. In line with current guidance, it is highly unlikely a head teacher would be able to consider a family holiday as exceptional.
Will I receive a fine for taking my child out of school?
If exceptional circumstances are not agreed by the headteacher and your child misses school with marked unauthorised absence in the register, this could result in the issue of a fixed penalty fine.
Fixed penalty fines of up to £120 each can be issued in respect of each parent and each child. For two parents and two children, for example, fines amounting to a maximum £480 could be issued. If these remain unpaid the local authority may take further legal proceedings against you which may result in an increased fine and additional court costs.
Worcestershire County Council’s Penalty Notice Code of Conduct currently refers, in section 3, to a Penalty Notice being issued where a pupil has at least 10 unauthorised absences in 60 (i.e. 5 school days in any 6 week period). However, in response to the uncertainty around the case of Isle of Wight Council v Platt [2017] the County Council has an established practice of tolerating up to 12 unauthorised absences in 120 sessions (i.e. 6 days in 12 weeks) before a Penalty Notice may be issued. At present it is anticipated that Department for Education national policy may be released April 2024 and this will provide clarity on a national approach. The County Council will continue to keep the situation under review until the release of national policy or April 2024. In the meantime the established practice of 12 unauthorised absences in 120 sessions will remain the applicable threshold.
Penalty notice code of conduct