Closed petition End fines for parents who take their children on short holiday during term time.

Closed on 19 March 2018

Since 2013 parents can be subject to criminal proceedings for taking their children on holiday during term times.

The current system exploits the law that was passed under the guise of dealing with repeated truancy. It is also indirectly discriminating against families based on class and income.

Two scientists (Dr. Beccy Smith and Alan Barr) have investigated the figures, separating the data for authorised term-time holidays from the broader dataset used by the government, which includes other absences such as those related to illness or exclusion.

They have concluded, independently, that authorised holiday absences are not linked to poorer attainment at KS2, and there is growing evidence to suggest this is the case across the stages.