All parents who take their children on holiday during termtime will be handed a fixed penalty notice (FPN), the Government announced today.
The new truancy crackdown will also see FPNs issued to parents whose children are late five times in one term, take five unauthorised absences, go on holiday during termtime, or are out in public in the five five days of an exclusion.
Education Secretary Nadim Zahawi vowed to end the ‘postcode lottery’ over how local councils deal with school absences.
He said: ‘I know from the Children’s Commissioner’s work on school attendance that children themselves hugely value being in school with their teachers and their friends.
‘My job is to make sure that every child can get those school experiences.’
The education secretary will also oversee a Whitehall database with all school registers, the plans state.
Mr Zahawi added: ‘The plans set out today to reform how absence fines operate, alongside our Schools Bill currently going through parliament, will improve consistency across the country and help tackle persistent absence.’
Children’s Commissioner Rachel de Souza has called for school attendance to rise to 100% by this autumn term.
She urged schools to do ‘whatever it takes’ to meet that goal.
Parent would face a maximum of two fines for each child per school year.
