Permission for Child's Time Off in Term Time Due to Holiday

Even though the much lower cost of holidays during children's school term times encourages many families to look into the idea of taking their child out of school during the academic year to facilitate a cheaper family holiday, the first thing to note is, the law does not allow for this!

Parents do not have an automatic right to take their child out of school for a holiday, because the law (the Education Act) reads that parents have a duty to ensure that their child receives an education, and if your child is attending school, that is the way they receive their education and that should be prioritised over any holiday plans.

Having said that, however, if a reason has cropped up to make families want to take their child away, especially if that is a time-related reason such as a family occasion such as a wedding taking place abroad, then the school may look on the request positively if it is phrased in the correct way.

What Will a School Consider in a Families' Request for Leave from School

Some of the factors that will influence a school's decision about whether they will grant permission for parents to take their children out of school will include the length of the absence, the reason for the absence and the timing of the absence - if your child is about to take public exams such as GCSEs or A Levels, or has only just settled into a new class or year group, the request is less likely to be looked upon favourably.

Bear in mind too that if parents ask permission for their child to miss a period of time from school, then that permission is turned down, but parents go ahead and take their child out of school anyway, then this will be classes as 'unauthorised absence' and parents are liable to be punished, usually through a financial fine but potentially even more serious recriminations.

The letter format laid out below shows you the kind of information that schools need to be informed about in a letter from parents to a school to request a child's absence from school for the purpose of a term-time holiday. It can be used as an example of the best kind of tone to use to contact a school in order to ensure the best nature of response.

The School House
School Lane
Schoolville
England

Parental Address
Family Home
Anytown
England

1 May 2008

Dear Headteacher

Our daughter, Stefanie Hague, is in year 9 at The School House. We as a family have just discovered that a close relative, Stefanie's aunt, is due to get married in Mustique next September, when Stefanie will just have started year 10. This is, as you will realise, awkward timing as we know how important Stefanie's GCSE examinations are, and that at the start of year 10 she will be beginning her preparations for this difficult exams. It is a difficult time to leave school and I know permission is only given in exceptional circumstances for absences from school during the academic term.

However, I'm writing to request that permission as it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see an aunty getting married and Stefanie is very close to her aunt, and it would mean a great deal to both of them if we could all attend the wedding. Despite the great distance to Mustique, we would anticipate leaving the UK for only 5 days, two of those weekend, so Stefanie would miss only three days of school. Would you be able to grant permission for this absence? I really hope this would not be impossible.

We await your response: you can contact me, Mother, on 0191 2343 9049 or 0723422342, or email me at mother@parents.com.

With thanks for your time and best wishes

[signature]

Mr and Mrs Hague, mother of Stefanie Hague (form 9b)