National Framework for Attendance
Schools do not issue penalty notices directly. Decisions regarding penalty notices are made in accordance with local authority processes and the National Framework.
National Framework for Penalty Notice Fines for School Attendance from 19th August 2024
The headteacher (or a deputy or assistant headteacher authorised by the headteacher), the Local Authority or the police may issue a penalty notice for unauthorised absence where a child is of compulsory school age. Schools will submit a Penalty Notice Request to the Local Authority, which considers the evidence and issues any penalty notice in accordance with the Local Authority Code of Conduct for Penalty Notices.
Before issuing a penalty notice, the school will consider the individual case, including:
- Whether the national threshold for considering a penalty notice has been met (10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks) Or the unagreed leave of absence immediately precedes, or is attached to, a school closure (e.g.school holidays/INSET/school closure etc) or any form of absence.
- Term-time holidays will not be authorised unless exceptional circumstances apply. Where a pupil is absent due to an unauthorised holiday and the school has evidence that the leave has been taken, the school may refer the case to the Local Authority for a Penalty Notice to be considered in accordance with the national framework for attendance enforcement.
- The National Framework does not prevent a penalty notice from being used in other cases where an offence has been committed but before doing so authorised officers are expected to make the same considerations as set out above. If in an individual case the local authority (or other authorised officer) believes a penalty notice would be appropriate, they retain the discretion to issue one before the threshold is met. This might apply for example, where parents are deliberately avoiding the national threshold by taking several term time holidays below threshold, or for repeated absence for birthdays or other family events. If local authorities wish to exercise this discretion to issue a penalty notice earlier in such circumstances, they will make this clear in their Local Code of Conduct.
- Whether a penalty notice is the best available tool to improve attendance for that pupil
- Whether further support, a notice to improve or another legal intervention would be a more appropriate solution
- Whether any obligations that the school has under the Equality Act 2010 make issuing a penalty notice inappropriate
Each parent who is liable for the pupil’s offence(s) can be issued with a penalty notice, but this will usually only be the parent/parents who allowed the absence.
The payment must be made directly to the local authority, regardless of who issues the notice. If the payment has not been made after 28 days, the local authority can decide whether to prosecute or withdraw the notice.
If issued with a first penalty notice, the parent must pay £80 within 21 days, or £160 within 28 days.
If a second penalty notice is issued to the same parent in respect of the same pupil, the parent must pay £160 if paid within 28 days.
A third penalty notice cannot be issued to the same parent in respect of the same child within 3 years of the date of the issue of the first penalty notice. In a case where the national threshold is met for a third time within those 3 years, alternative action will be taken instead.
A penalty notice may also be issued where parents allow their child to be present in a public place during school hours without reasonable justification, during the first 5 days of a suspension or exclusion (where the school has notified the parents that the pupil must not be present in a public place on that day). These penalty notices are not included in the National Framework, not subject to the same considerations about support being provided, and do not count towards the limit as part of the escalation process.
In these cases, the parent must pay £60 within 21 days, or £120.