Important information regarding attendance

There is a great deal of focus on improving school attendance nationally.

There have been significant changes regarding penalty notices. These changes came into effect from August 2024 and are as follows:

New two penalty notice limit in a three-year period

The three-year rolling period starts for parents from whenever the first penalty notice is issued after August 2024.

The first Penalty Notice will increase to £160 per parent/carer per child but can be reduced to £80 per parent/carer per child if paid within 21 days.

If a second penalty notice is issued within three years of the first penalty notice, then this will be at a fixed rate of £160 per parent/carer per child. There is no reduction for early payment.

A third penalty notice cannot be issued within the three-year period and the county council will deal with any further unauthorised leave through prosecution in the Magistrates Court.

National threshold for issuing penalty notices

There is a new national threshold for issuing penalty notices which has been set at 10 sessions (equivalent to 5 school days) of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks.

However, the local authority retain discretion to issue one before the threshold is met.

Please be aware of these changes regarding absence from school during term time for holidays or other unauthorised reasons.