PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(1 September 2026)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department holds any analysis on the potential effects of the national penalty notice threshold, introduced in August 2024, on school attendance rates.

Asked by:
Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat)

The causes of school absence are complex, and penalty notices are one part of a wider toolkit to help ensure children receive the education they are entitled to. The government remains committed to a support- first approach, with enforcement only used where support is not appropriate, has not been engaged with, or is not proving effective.

Recent data suggests this approach is having a positive impact. In 2024 to 2025, the rate of absence due to unauthorised holidays fell from 0.53% to 0.48%, equating to around 1.3 million fewer missed sessions compared with 2023 to 2024. Penalty notices are primarily targeted at term-time holidays, which accounted for 93% of notices issued in 2024 to 2025.

Answered by:
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