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As many parents are aware, going on holidays, especially to Walt Disney World or Disneyland Paris during school holidays can be very expensive. It's reported that 400,000 penalty notices were issued to parents in England in the school year 2022/23 for unauthorised school absences.
Currently, it's the responsibility of the local authority to decide when to issue fines to parents, meaning the process varies from council to council. Under the new national framework, all schools will be required to consider a fine when a child has missed 10 or more sessions (5 days) for unauthorised reasons.
From September 2024, the fine for school absences across the country will be £80 per parent if paid within 21 days, or £160 per parent if paid within 28 days. A second fine in any three-year period will automatically be the higher £160 per parent fine. Fines per parent will be capped at two fines within any three-year period. Once this limit has been reached, other actions like a parenting order or prosecution will be considered. If you're prosecuted and attend court because your child hasn't been attending school, you could get a fine of up to £2,500 and it could show up on any future DBS certificates.
About The Author
Ash Hales is a British Disney Parks writer and the voice behind Mickey From The UK. Based in the South of England, he's been visiting Disney Parks for over three decades and launched Mickey From The UK in 2017 to provide practical, straight-talking advice for British guests - without the American bias.
