Application for Leave of Absence

All schools by law must follow the Department for Education’s statutory guidance relating to school attendance. Parents do not have a right to take their children out of school for holidays during term time. Schools are closed for children’s benefit for 13 weeks every year.  Holidays should be taken during this time.  During term, children must be at school.  Holidays taken during term time have a detrimental effect on your child’s learning and educational progress.  If you choose to take holidays during term time, a request form must be completed prior to the holiday and a letter written to the head stating the reasons for the holiday.

By law, Headteachers are not permitted to:

• Grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are very exceptional circumstances.
• Grant leave of absence retrospectively (Leave of Absence applications need to be submitted three weeks in advance).

It should be noted that there is only a very limited number of truly exceptional circumstances under which the Headteacher may authorise absence.

If the absence is not authorised and the leave is taken, schools must refer to the Local Authority for legal action.

Unauthorised absences appear on both the child’s and the school’s records. If a pupil has ten sessions (equivalent to five school days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling ten school week period (these sessions do not have to be consecutive and can span different terms or years), the Local Authority may levy a fine of £80 per parent, per child. If this fine is not paid within 21 days, it increases to £160 per parent, per child. Failure to pay may result in prosecution for the offence because your child has failed to attend school regularly.  

For more information, please read The Statutory Attendance Support Teams guide 'Helping Parents understand Penalty Notice Fines for School Attendance'

Parents wishing to apply for their child to take leave from school should complete the form below.