Last year one in 25 children at school in England was taken out of school for a holiday – resulting in a fine for parents. More than 350,000 penalty notices were issued for unauthorised absences. That figure has more than trebled in the past six years.
Until 2013, head teachers in England were able to grant up to two weeks a year for family holidays in “special circumstances”. But the then-Education Secretary Michael Gove cracked down on parents taking children out of school during term-time. Since then, a fixed-penalty fine of £60 has been imposed for unauthorised absences.
