Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of school attendance penalty notice regulations on families of emergency service workers, including ambulance service staff, with limited ability to choose annual leave due to operational rostering systems; and if she will consider introducing (a) greater flexibility and (b) exemptions within guidance for such workers.

All children are entitled to a full-time education.

The national framework for penalty notices is designed to ensure fairness and consistency by applying expectations equally to all. While schools must apply the attendance framework fairly and consistently, headteachers retain the discretion to grant leave of absence in exceptional circumstances. This allows them to consider the specific circumstances faced by individual families, including those in emergency services roles. However, a family holiday would not normally constitute an exceptional circumstance, and the school year is structured to provide significant opportunities for holidays outside of term time.