School attendance and children missing education

Introduction

Parents and carers have a legal duty to make sure their child receives suitable, full-time education. Parents usually fulfil this duty by enrolling them at school. Parents need to make sure their child gets an education from the beginning of the term after their fifth birthday to the last Friday in June in the school year in which they have their 16th birthday.

Parent and guardian definition

Parents and guardians include any adult who has influence or control over the child in question. You may be related to them as the biological parent, stepparent, grandparent or older sibling (if over 18-years-old). We take these details from the school records. If you believe you are not, or are no longer, the parent or guardian please contact the school in the first instance to check that they have the correct information in their records.

Unauthorised absence from school

Schools are required to keep an accurate register of attendance for every child. The decision whether to authorise any absence is made by the school in line with their attendance policy and the reasons given. Schools cannot authorise any absence if a reason is not provided. If you believe they have made a mistake in the register, please contact the school.

Unauthorised absence can lead to a penalty notice being issued to parents, or legal action being taken against them in the most serious cases.

Unauthorised term-time leave

Statutory guidance is clear that schools should not authorise term-time leave unless it is both exceptional and unavoidable.

Where unauthorised leave is taken, the child is of compulsory school age and the leave meets the national threshold, schools are expected to submit a request for a penalty notice.

What we do

The Education Engagement Service fulfils the Council’s statutory responsibility to ensure parents and carers have their children in education. Where a child is not receiving full-time education, checks are carried out to make sure children are receiving suitable education. This may include home visits, school attendance sweeps, contacting known family members and liaising with support services, Police and housing groups.

In Somerset, the Education Engagement Service is also responsible for supporting children, families and schools to ensure regular school attendance. Each school in Somerset has a named officer who can be contacted through the school. We issue Penalty Notices in agreement with schools, to the parents or guardians of children who have missed school without authorisation. If parents want to question the fines, they should do so directly with the school.

Penalty notice guidance and making payment

Penalty notices are considered for both irregular attendance and unauthorised term-time leave. Penalty Notices can be issued to each parent or carer of each child whose unauthorised absence meets the national threshold. For example, in a family with two parents and three children taking unauthorised term-time leave, each parent could receive a penalty notice for each child resulting in six penalty notices being issued.

The Law and Code of Conduct

Penalty notices can only be issued when:

• a child’s absence meets the national threshold
• issuing a penalty notice is compliant with the Code of Conduct

Every local authority has a Penalty Notice Code of Conduct that outlines how, and when, it will issue penalty notices relating to unauthorised school absence. Somerset’s Code of Conduct is available online and describes the circumstances when issuing a penalty notice is appropriate. Penalty notices will only be issued in line with the Code of Conduct.

The National Threshold

Schools are required to consider whether a penalty notice is appropriate when a child reaches 10 sessions of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10 school week period. Absences do not have to be consecutive and can be a combination of any unauthorised absence codes (G, O, N or U). The rolling ten school week period can span terms, school years and schools.

• The first time a parent is issued with a penalty notice in relation to a child’s absence, they will be able to pay the reduced amount of £80 if they pay within 21 days. After 21 days, the full amount of £160 is payable within 28 days.
• If a parent is issued with a second penalty notice within three years the amount payable will be £160 within 28 days. The reduced amount will not be available.

Further offences

A parent cannot be issued with more than two penalty notices in relation to each child within a three-year period. Where this threshold is met and further offences occur, the Local Authority will consider other measures to address attendance concerns. This may include prosecution, which could result in a fine of up to £2,500 and the parent having a criminal record. In rare cases, parents may receive a custodial sentence. If convicted, the offence will also show on any future DBS checks.

There is no statutory right for parents to appeal penalty notices for unauthorised school absence. If a parent believes a penalty notice has been issues in error, they should contact their child’s school as quickly as possible. If an error has been made, the school may request a withdrawal.

Find out how you can make a payment for a school penalty fine on our Pay a council invoice page.

Non payment

If a penalty notice is not paid within the payment period, Somerset Council may prosecute the parent for failing to ensure their child’s regular attendance at school. Penalty notices are issued in line with Section 444 of the Education Act 1996 when a parent has failed to ensure their child’s regular attendance at school.

Downloads

Penalty Notice Code of Conduct 2024

Information for parents, schools and support services

PDF, 408 KB

Information about Penalty Notices for Parents

PDF, 127 KB