More pupils being taken out of school for term-time family holidays, says DfE

THE PROPORTION of pupils skipping lessons for family holidays has risen,.

Around one in 13 pupils (7.6 per cent) missed at least half a school day after being taken on trips in the autumn and spring terms of 2015/16, according to Department for Education (DfE) statistics.

This is up from 7.2 per cent the year before, and includes holidays approved by head teachers as well as those that were unauthorised.

This policy was thrown into doubt in May after parent Jon Platt won a High Court ruling against a fine issued for taking his daughter out of school for a family trip to Florida.

The new figures come from before he won his case. A breakdown of absence by reason shows that one in 20 half days missed were down to unapproved family trips - a five-year high.

This is has gone up from roughly one in 23 half days in the previous academic year, and one in 30 in 2011/12. The statistics show the proportion of time missed due to authorised family holidays has remained static at 1.2 per cent. By far the largest reason for pupils taking time off was illness, accounting for 62.2 per cent of absent sessions.

Unapproved family holidays accounted for five per cent of authorised and unauthorised absences in 2015/16, compared with 4.4 per cent in 2014/15.

This had dropped from 4.6 per cent in 2013/14 - the year new rules on school absence, including higher fines for parents if children miss lessons, came into force.