Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of current penalties for parents whose children fail to attend school regularly.

Evidence on the use of legal interventions for non-attendance, including penalty notices and prosecutions, is considered alongside wider attendance data and local authority feedback to assess the effectiveness of current penalties.

Attendance data for unauthorised absence in the 2024/25 academic year showed our approach is having a positive impact, as the proportion of absence due to unauthorised holiday fell from 0.53% in 2023/24 to 0.48% in 2024/25 meaning approximately 1.3 million fewer absence sessions due to unauthorised holidays across the 2024/25 school year. The overall rate of absence fell by 0.37 percentage points, resulting in over five million more days in school last year.

Our guidance is clear that enforcement should be used as a last resort and as part of a broader support-first approach. 93% of penalty notices issued in 2024/25 were for unauthorised term-time holidays, demonstrating that fixed penalty notices are being used primarily in circumstances where support is not appropriate, as intended.

The department continues to work with schools and local authorities to promote effective practice and improve attendance outcomes for all pupils.