Higher fines fail to stem high pupil absence rates

Jan 24, 2025

The government hiked fines in September for unauthorised school absences, with the penalties for parents rising from £60 to £80

Early data on school attendance suggests steeper fines for pupil absence have not had a ‘meaningful’ impact, a union has said.

The government hiked fines in September for unauthorised school absences, with the penalties for parents rising from £60 to £80.

But attendance data issued by the Department for Education on Thursday suggests an improvement of just 0.2 per cent in average attendance since the increase was rolled out.

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