Families see school as optional and fines are not reversing post Covid trend

Some families see school as “optional” since the pandemic – and fines for unauthorised absences are “not reversing” the trend, the leader of a headteachers’ union will say.

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), will say fining parents who take their children out of school without permission “often deepen tensions” with families.

In a speech at the union’s annual conference on Saturday in Liverpool, Mr Di’Iasio will call on ministers to engage with the travel industry to address the “excessive” cost of holidays during the school breaks.

His comments come as a survey for the ASCL suggested that 93% of teachers and leaders in state schools had been told this academic year that a pupil had been absent as their family wanted to go on holiday during term time.

The poll by the Teacher Tapp app asked 9,127 teachers and leaders in England what reasons they had been given for pupil absence this academic year.

More than four in five (81%) said a pupil had missed school to attend a family event and 74% said a pupil was too anxious about school to attend.

More than three in five (61%) said a pupil had been kept home because they were tired after an event the night before, and 36% said they had been kept off school because the parent or carer was in dispute with the school.

Around one in eight (13%) said a pupil had been absent as they wanted to work online from home, according to the poll.

In September, school absence fines in England rose from £60 to £80, and a parent who receives a second fine for the same child within a three-year period will now receive a £160 fine.

The former Conservative government announced the hike in fines in February last year as part of a drive to boost school attendance since the pandemic.

In his address to the union’s annual conference, Mr Di’Iasio will say: “We all know something changed in society after the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I can’t pinpoint exactly why, but for some families, school seems to have become – at least in part – optional. And that mindset persists.

“The blunt instrument of fines is not reversing this trend.”

The number of fines issued to parents in England for taking their children out of school without permission increased to almost half a million (487,344) in the 2023/24 academic year – and the vast majority (91%) of these penalty notices were for unauthorised family holidays.

Mr Di’Iasio say that “fines often deepen tensions between schools and parents” and schools “are left looking like the villains”.

He will tell hundreds of school and college leaders on Saturday: “It’s time to refresh and renew the social contract with a declaration agreed and developed by schools, government, and parents working together.

“This means setting out clear expectations, the importance of following the rules for the collective good, and the proper channels for complaints.

“Such an agreement should be developed, endorsed, and promoted by everyone with a stake in education. We need to speak with one voice.”

Mr Di’Iasio will add: “I want to address the increasingly strained relationship between schools and some of our parents.

“When I speak to colleagues across the country, many tell me they feel under siege from a growing culture of complaints.

“These grievances aren’t just directed at schools – they’re escalated to Ofsted, the Teaching Regulation Agency, the Department for Education, and local authorities.

“And if that weren’t enough, they are often amplified on social media, adding further pressure to already overstretched staff, who feel unable to respond.”

Professor Becky Francis, chair of the Government’s curriculum and assessment review, is also due to address ASCL’s conference on Saturday.

During her speech to school and college leaders on Friday, the Education Secretary called for schools to “catch up fast” to improve pupil attendance.

Bridget Phillipson said some schools were “not making enough progress” on absences as she called for “old-fashioned graft”.

In her address to the conference in Liverpool, Ms Phillipson said she would not accept the “damage” caused by children missing school.

Published: 15/03/2025 by Radio NewsHub