Holidays in term time

Requests for leave of absence

Parents must request permission in advance from school for leave of absence for any reason, including holidays.

Headteachers cannot grant leave during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances and cannot grant permission retrospectively.

Generally, a need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation would not be an exceptional circumstance.

What happens if you take your child out of school without permission

If you take your child out of school without the school's permission or without notifying them in advance it will be recorded as unauthorised absence. This may lead to enforcement action (penalty notice or prosecution).

Changes to Fixed Penalty Notices from August 2024

In the majority of cases, schools and councils will try and provide support to help you improve your child's attendance first, but if this is not working to resolve the issues or if support is not appropriate (unauthorised term time holiday), parents and carers may be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice.

Under the new national framework, Fixed Penalty Notices will be considered when a child has missed ten or more sessions (five days) for unauthorised reasons in a period of ten school weeks. A notice may also be issued where the five day level of absence has not been reached, for example, if there are several periods of leave.

Notices will be issued in line with the Local Code of Conduct -  Penalty Notices for Irregular School Attendance - Local Code of Conduct (PDF) [306KB] .

From August 2024:

• The first penalty notice is £160 if paid within 28 days, reduced to or £80 if paid within 21 days.
• If a parent receives a second notice for the same child within any three year period, the amount of the notice will be £160 to be paid within 28 days.
• A third penalty notice cannot be issued. Legal action may result (for example, prosecution).

Fixed Penalty Notice information for parents and carers (PDF) [133KB]