Fewer fines for poor school attendance were issued last year, reversing six years of rising numbers.

The fall came despite the absence rate in state-funded schools increasing from 1.1 per cent to 1.3 per cent, and the rate of unauthorised holiday absences also climbing.

The figures cover the period after the High Court in May 2016 backed a magistrate who ruled that Isle of Wight parent Jon Platt did not have to pay a school fine for an unauthorised term-time holiday.

The statistics also cover some of the period after the Supreme Court in April 2017 reversed this ruling, and unanimously agreed that no children should be taken out of school without good reason. It ruled that “regularly” attending school means “in accordance with the rules prescribed by the school”.

Department for Education statistics published today show that the number of penalty notices issued fell by 5.4 per cent in 2016-17.

Some 149,321 notices were issued in 2016-17, compared with 157,879 in 2015-16.

Unauthorised family holiday absence

The report says: “The number of penalty notices issued has followed a general upward trend from 2009-10 up until 2015-16, rising steeply between 2012-13 and 2014-15.

“Regulations amended in September 2013 state that term-time leave may only be granted in exceptional circumstances, and may relate to the sharper increase in penalty notices issued.”

This was the first year that the reason for penalty notices being issued was collected, on a voluntary basis.

The most common reason for a penalty notice being issued was unauthorised family holiday absence.

The report says that 77.5 per cent of all penalty notices were issued for unauthorised family holiday absence. The second largest reason for a penalty notice being issued was for “other reasons”, accounting for 21.4 per cent of all penalty notices.

The rate of unauthorised holiday absence rose from 0.3 per cent to 0.4 per cent.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Children only get one chance at an education and evidence shows that every extra day of school missed can affect a pupil’s chances of achieving good GCSEs.

“Therefore we believe that no child should be taken out of school without good reason - and the Supreme Court agrees with us.

“The rules on term-time absences are clear and we have put schools back in control by supporting them - and local authorities - to use their powers to deal with unauthorised absence.”

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