Parents could be fined hundreds of pounds if they take their children out of school in term time, as the Government looks to improve school attendance. 

Fines for unauthorised absences will be £20 higher per day for the coming academic year, marking the first time the fine has increased since its introduction in 2013.

The new fines, which were introduced under the previous Government, will come into effect next week.

We explain why the Government has increased fines, how they work and how much you could be charged.

When will parents be fined?

The current rules say that children can only miss school if they're too ill to go in or have received advance permission from the school.

If a parent wants to take their children out of school in term time, there need to be 'exceptional circumstances' and they need to make an application to the head teacher in advance, who will authorise the absence at their discretion.

Local authorities control their own policies on when to issue fines, so the likelihood of being fined will depend entirely on which council a child's school is in.

To avoid inconsistencies across councils, the previous Government issued a new 'national framework' for when a penalty notice must by considered by all schools.

These new guidelines say that schools should consider a fine if a child has missed 10 sessions, equivalent to five days of school, without advance permission.

How much will parents be fined?

The minimum fine for parents who take their children out of school in term time without permission is currently £60, but will rise to £80 from 19 August.

If parents fail to pay their fine within 21 days it doubles to £120, or £160 from August.

The penalty notices are issued to each parent who allows their child to be absent. This means that three siblings who had an unauthorised absence in term time would result in each parent who allowed the absence, receiving three separate fines.

While some families might pay the fine to save money on holidaying outside of the summer holidays, when prices for flights and hotels soar, they could face steeper fines.

If a parent receives a second fine for the same child within any three-year period, they will immediately be charged £160.

Fines per parent will be capped at two fines within three years and once that limit has been reached, the Department of Education says a parenting order or prosecution will be considered.

If you attend court because your child hasn't been attending school, you could receive a fine of up to £2,500 and it could show up on a parent's future DBS certificate due to 'failure to safeguard a child's education'.

Why are the fines rising?

The £20 rise in absence fines come after nearly 400,000 penalty notices were issued to parents in England in 2022/23 for unauthorised school absences.

A record 350,000 parents, out of the 399,000 who received penalty notices, were fined for taking their children out of school for unauthorised holidays.

Earlier this year, the Conservative Government introduced 'attendance hubs' to help reduce persistent absences after the pandemic.

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson confirmed the increase in fines would remain in place after Labour won the election.

She told the BBC that there 'will have to be consequences' for parents and that the practice is 'here to stay'.

The government says: 'For most pupils, the best place to be during term-time in is school, surrounded by the support of their friends and teachers.

'This is important not just for your child's learning, but also for their overall wellbeing, wider development and their mental health.'

At the time, the fine increases were announced, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders said: 'It is not unreasonable to increase the level of fines for unauthorised absence given that they have been fixed at £60 for several years.

'However, it is important to understand that these fines predominantly relate to pupils who are taken out of school for term-time holidays. While nobody wants to be in a position of finning parents there simply has to be a marker that this is not acceptable.

'Not only does it affect the child's education but it means teachers then have to spend time helping children to catch-up with lost learning. If everybody did this it would be chaos.'