Parents not put off by fines for holidays during school term time, research finds

Fines for taking kids out of school for holidays during term time are not deterring parents as paying them works out cheaper than travelling in the peak summer season, new research suggests.

The UK’s Department for Education says that children can miss school for illnesses or exceptional circumstances, but if the local council or school deems a child misses class without a good reason, parents or guardians may be issued a fine.

Families who jet off on a holiday while school is still in session can risk fines of £80 per child, rising up to £160 if this is not paid within 21 days.

The fine currently sits at £60, but the government will bump it up to £80 by August this year.

The vast majority of fines for unauthorised absence (89 per cent) are issued for term-time holidays.

However, for some families, this cost is only a drop in the ocean against the soaring holiday prices during the summer break.

New research from accounting firm KPMG has revealed that a third (33 per cent) of parents they surveyed with school-age children said their kids would miss some term time for a holiday this year.

One in five (20 per cent) said their whole holiday would be taken during term time, specifically to avoid or limit peak summer holiday travel costs.

While a majority said they would not mind their kid missing school for a holiday, 38 per cent of the 1,053 participants still responded that they would not let their child miss learning to go abroad or on a staycation.

UK parents have collectively already paid at least £41m in fines since 2022 for taking their children out of school.

However, the price of the fine has yet to outweigh the savings of off-peak holidays.

On average, parents have saved £567 by taking their kids out of school during term time, when considering travel prices over peak season, a separate study by Confused.com found.

In some cases, savings were even higher, with 16 per cent of families saying they scored a term-time offer that was over £1,000 cheaper than travelling in summer.

While the cost of the fine may not be a concern to some households, parents can also risk legal action if a child misses school repeatedly.

From the 2024 to 2025 school year, each parent will only get up to two fines for the same child in a three-year period.

If they receive a second fine in three years, it will be £160. If they do not pay the fine in 28 days they may be taken to court.

If your child is off school three or more times within the three years, the parent may be taken to court.

Parents taken to court risk a fine of up to £2,500, a community order or a jail sentence of up to three months. The court could also give them a Parenting Order, which sometimes consists of attending parenting programs or adhering to curfews.

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