Term-time holidays: Parents fined total of £5.6m for taking children out of school

Rise in fines deemed ‘unsurprising’ as parents can save huge sums by taking children on holiday during the school term

The number of parents being fined for taking their children out of school has rocketed in recent years (iStock)

More than 90,000 parents in England and Wales were fined a total of £5.6m over the last academic year for taking their children out of school for holidays during term time.

The fines for the academic year ending in 2015 are almost four times higher than for 2012-13, when parents were issued with an estimated £1.5m in fines.

The number of fines issued also increased dramatically, from 24,853 in 2012-13 to 92,784 in 2014-15.

Schools in Lancashire issued 4,279 fines over the last academic year, more than any other area. Doncaster issued 3,559, Bradford 3,445, Leeds 3,435 and Derbyshire 3,174.

The findings come from a Freedom of Information request by Santander Bank. It said families who take their children on holiday outside of the school term can pay almost 70 per cent more than they would if they booked the same trip during term time, making a £60 fine a small price to pay for bigger savings.

A spokesman for the bank said: “It’s perhaps unsurprising as parents planning an overseas break during the school summer holidays face premiums of up to 68 per cent in some instances, equivalent to an extra £1,771.

“On average, trips to some of the most popular overseas holiday destinations such as Spain, France and the USA are 21 per cent more expensive for a family of four during the school holidays.”

Until September 2013, headteachers were able to use their discretion to allow parents to take their children out of school for up to 10 days a year.

But new rules from the Department for Education (DfE) now only allow headteachers to authorise absences in “exceptional circumstances” such as funerals.

If parents break the rules, the local council can issue a fine of £60, which doubles if it remains unpaid after 21 days.

But a high court case has thrown the rules into doubt after father Jon Platt, of the Isle of Wight, refused to pay a fine for taking his daughter out of school for a trip to Disney Land in Florida.

In May, Mr Platt won his case at the high court, and the fine was overturned. The court said that parents whose children had good school attendance could be allowed family absences.

Despite the win, the DfE is understood to be financially backing the Isle of Wight council in taking the case to the Supreme Court.