Absence During Term Time

Every half-day absence must be labelled by the school as either ‘authorised’ or ‘unauthorised’:

Authorised absence - An absence is authorised when parents tell us an allowable reason for being away from school. Allowable reasons include:

• being too unwell to come to school;
• emergency medical or dental appointments;
• religious events, when one day each year will be authorised;
• visits to another school, tests or exams;
• any other ‘exceptional circumstances’, explained below. 

Unauthorised absence - An absence is unauthorised when a child is away from school for reasons that are not allowed. By law, unauthorised absences are an offence and can be liable to legal action or a fixed penalty fine. Unauthorised reasons include:

• parents keeping children off school unnecessarily,
• absences that have not been properly explained,
• travel during term-time, including family holidays, that have not been agreed,
• repeated or persistent non-specific illness, for example, ‘poorly/unwell’,
• absence of other siblings if one child is ill,
• absence because a parent is ill,
• oversleeping,
• inadequate clothing/uniform,
• confusion over school term and holiday dates,
• medical and/or dental appointments of more than half a day without very good reason,
• child’s and/or family birthdays,
• any routine family event or trip, for example, shopping.
• where the reason for absence is given as illness and occurs either side of a school holiday, medical proof will be sought. Without this proof the absence will not be authorised.

The school may instruct the Local Authority to issue a Fixed-Penalty notice for any unauthorised travel during term-time.