Admissions & Rules

School Attendance Fines in England: The Full Ladder

School attendance fines in England start at £80 and follow a fixed national ladder that every council must now apply the same way. Since 19 August 2024 there has been a single national framework: a penalty notice must be considered once a child has missed 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a rolling 10 school week period, the first fine is £160 reduced to £80 if you pay quickly, the second is a flat £160, and there is no third fine. This guide sets out each step, what counts as a session, and where parents genuinely have room to argue.

The school attendance penalty ladder in England, from 19 August 2024 The penalty ladder: what happens at each stage Per parent, per child. The 3-year clock runs from the date the first notice was issued. Trigger: 10 sessions unauthorised in 10 school weeks A session is half a day, so 10 sessions is 5 school days. They need not be consecutive. First penalty notice: £80 if paid within 21 days, £160 within 28 Issued to each parent, for each child. Unpaid after 28 days means prosecution, not a bigger fine. Second notice within 3 years: flat £160, 28 days to pay No £80 discount. This is the last penalty notice you can be given for that child. Third offence in 3 years: no fine, court instead Prosecution under s444 Education Act 1996: up to £2,500, a community order, or up to 3 months in prison. Source: GOV.UK, school attendance and absence, and the national framework for penalty notices. Chart by Schools Insight.

What counts as an unauthorised absence

Every school day is split into two registration sessions, morning and afternoon. Each session is marked with an attendance code, and the code decides whether the absence is authorised or not. Only the school can authorise an absence, and it does not have to accept a parent's reason.

Illness is normally authorised, and a school should not routinely ask for medical evidence for ordinary short illnesses. Medical and dental appointments are authorised, though schools will ask you to keep them out of school time where possible. Religious observance days set by the child's religious body are authorised. So are school-approved trips, exclusions, and days when the school itself is closed.

What is not authorised, in almost every case, is a term-time holiday. Head teachers may only grant leave of absence in exceptional circumstances, and they decide both whether the circumstances qualify and how many days to allow. A cheaper flight is not an exceptional circumstance, and going anyway turns the whole trip into unauthorised absence. That is why family holidays account for most penalty notices issued.

The national threshold: 10 sessions in 10 weeks

This is the number that matters. A penalty notice must be considered once a child accumulates 10 sessions of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10 school week period. Because a session is half a day, that is five school days.

Three details catch parents out:

  • The sessions do not have to be consecutive. A Monday off here and a Friday off there add up in exactly the same way as a week in Spain.
  • The sessions can be different types of unauthorised absence. A term-time holiday, an unexplained lateness after the register closed, and an absence the school refused to authorise all count towards the same ten.
  • The 10 school week period can span terms and school years. Five days in July and five days in September can meet the threshold together.

A one-week term-time holiday is five school days, which is ten sessions, which is the threshold on its own. There is no grace period and no allowance of days.

The fines, step by step

First penalty notice. £160, reduced to £80 if you pay within 21 days of receiving it. If you have not paid within 28 days, the fine is not increased further: the local authority's options are to withdraw it or to prosecute.

Second penalty notice, within three years of the first. A flat £160, payable within 28 days. The £80 discount does not apply to any notice after the first.

Third offence within three years. No third penalty notice can be issued to the same parent for the same child. Instead the council must consider other action, which in practice means prosecution in the magistrates' court under section 444 of the Education Act 1996. On conviction the court can impose a fine of up to £2,500, a community order, or a prison sentence of up to three months.

Two things about who pays. Penalty notices are issued per parent, per child. Two parents taking two children on a term-time holiday can therefore receive four notices, which is £320 at the discounted rate and £640 if the discount is missed. And "parent" in this context is wider than most people expect: it includes anyone who has care of the child, not only the birth parents.

Where parents actually have room to argue

You cannot appeal a penalty notice in the way you can appeal a school place. There is no tribunal, no hearing and no formal appeal route: your options are to pay, or to not pay and defend the prosecution that may follow. That sounds bleak, but there are real avenues.

  • Ask the local authority to withdraw it. Councils can withdraw a notice, and typically will if it was issued in error, if the code was wrong, or if there are circumstances the school did not know about. Write, do not phone, and set out the facts and dates plainly.
  • Challenge the attendance code first. If the absence should have been authorised and the school marked it otherwise, the argument is with the school, and it needs to happen before the notice is issued rather than after. Ask for the register entries in writing.
  • Statutory defences at prosecution. Section 444 includes defences: the child was absent with leave, was ill or prevented from attending by an unavoidable cause, the absence was on a day set apart for religious observance, or the school is not within walking distance and no suitable arrangements were made for transport. See our guide to free school transport eligibility.
  • Mental health and SEND. Absence driven by anxiety or unmet special educational needs is a different problem from truancy, and the statutory guidance expects support first. If this is your situation, the route is a support plan and, where needed, an assessment: see SEN support versus an EHC plan and how to apply for an EHC plan.

What schools must do before fining

The statutory guidance is explicit that a penalty notice is not the first move. Schools are expected to work with families first: to identify the barrier, to offer support, and to hold an attendance meeting. Councils are expected to use fines where support has been offered and has not worked, or where the absence is a straightforward unauthorised holiday.

Schools also have to publish an attendance policy, and it will tell you how that school handles leave requests and when it refers cases to the council. It is worth reading before you ask for time off rather than after. Our guide to questions to ask at an open day and our overview of what makes a good school both touch on how a school talks about attendance, which tells you a lot about how it will treat you.

The full statutory framework, including the current fine amounts, is on GOV.UK's school attendance and absence pages. Everything else about applying for and keeping a place is on the Schools Insight homepage.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is the fine for taking a child out of school in England?

The first penalty notice is £160, reduced to £80 if you pay within 21 days. A second notice for the same child within three years is a flat £160 with no discount. Notices are issued per parent and per child, so two parents and two children on the same term-time holiday can face four separate fines.

How many days can you take a child out of school before being fined?

Five school days, which is 10 sessions, within a rolling 10 school week period. There is no allowance below that: the threshold simply has to be met before a penalty notice can be considered. The days do not have to be consecutive and the 10-week window can run across two terms or two school years.

Can you be fined twice for school attendance?

Yes, but no more than twice. A parent can receive at most two penalty notices for the same child within any three-year period. The second is a flat £160. If a third offence occurs inside that three-year window, no further notice can be issued and the council must consider other action, which usually means prosecution.

What happens if you do not pay a school attendance fine?

The fine does not increase further. After 28 days the local authority must either withdraw the notice or start a prosecution in the magistrates' court under section 444 of the Education Act 1996. On conviction the court can impose a fine of up to £2,500, a community order, or a prison sentence of up to three months.

Can you appeal a school attendance penalty notice?

There is no formal appeal process and no tribunal. You can ask the local authority to withdraw the notice, which councils will do if it was issued in error or if there were circumstances the school did not know about. Otherwise your only route is to decline to pay and raise a statutory defence if you are prosecuted.

Is a term-time holiday always unauthorised?

Almost always. Head teachers may grant leave of absence only in exceptional circumstances, and they decide what qualifies and for how long. Cost, availability of flights and a parent's shift pattern are not normally treated as exceptional. If you go without leave, the whole absence is unauthorised and counts towards the 10-session threshold.

Does illness count towards the fine threshold?

Not if the school authorises it, and ordinary short illnesses normally are authorised. It only counts if the school records the absence as unauthorised, which can happen if it doubts the reason or if absences become frequent and unexplained. If you disagree with how an absence has been coded, take it up with the school in writing straight away.

Sources

  • GOV.UK, school attendance and absence, legal action to enforce school attendance: gov.uk
  • Education Act 1996, section 444 (failure to secure regular attendance) : legislation.gov.uk

Figures checked on 23 August 2026. Councils publish their own codes of conduct for penalty notices within the national framework, so check yours for local detail.