Term-time holiday guidance

All absence from school affects your child's education. Taking a child on holiday during term-time could mean:

• your child missing out on important school work which will be difficult to catch up on
• creating more work for your child and the teachers
• it may affect other pupils' learning

The law

The Department for Education (DFE) amended legislation surrounding holidays in term-time, which came into effect on 1 September 2013.

Parents have no entitlement to take their child on holiday in term-time. Any application for leave must only be in exceptional circumstances and the head teacher must be satisfied that the circumstances are exceptional and warrant the granting of leave. Head teachers would not be expected to class any term-time holiday as exceptional. Parents can be fined by the local authority for taking their child on holiday during term-time without consent from the school. 

Why the changes were made

In the academic year 2011 to 2012, 9.7% of all absences in England were due to parents taking their children out of school during term-time. This high level of absence led the Department of Education to change the law.

What's happening in Salford

As a school within the local authority, we fully appreciate the financial difficulties that some parents face when booking holidays, particularly during school holidays. However, the Local authority expects that all Salford schools have a firm policy and stringent checks to significantly reduce the number of authorised absences during term-time.

The Local authority monitors all school absences during term-time and challengs schools and parents who don't follow the new legislation.

This page was last updated on 14 March 2016