Taking a Child Out of School for a Ski Holiday

11th September 2024

Latest figures show more pupils in England were off school without permission in the last week of the summer term than at any point in the academic year.

A smaller number of parents take their children away to the mountains in the winter during term-time.

The BBC has reported on the issue here.

It uses the example of Megan and Michael Hall as to why parents do so.

The couple received their first fines after taking their two children on a ski holiday in March and this summer booked a two-week summer break.

“The kids will be missing 10 days of school, which is a worry because of the new fines,” Mrs Hall told the BBC.

The couple run a pub and bed and breakfast in Northumberland.

They said if they took their children – aged four and eight – away during their busy summer season they would incur a cost to their business as well as higher holiday prices.

“I won’t stop doing holidays because that’s what family is about,” added Mrs Hall.

“The alternative is to not have family time, or to teach your kids to lie, saying they are sick, which is something I’m not happy to do,” she added.

The government is tightening rules to try to stop parents taking their children out of school to go on holiday.

Fines issued to each parent have gone up from £60 to £80 per child, which will be doubled if it happens again within three years.

Those with a third fine in a three-year period now face prosecution.

Family skiing. Image © PlanetSKI.