Rejected petition Why can schools take children on breaks during term time but parents can't?

It raises a significant question as to why schools are permitted to organise holidays or outings during term time, yet parents face criminal charges and fines for doing the same with their children.

More details

Regulations surrounding school attendance should be relaxed, particularly regarding penalties for parents who choose to take their children out of school for short breaks or day trips during term time. Imposing fines and criminal records for such actions is excessive, especially when these occurrences are infrequent and unlikely to significantly impact a child's education. A few days away from the classroom each year can provide valuable family experiences without detrimental effects on learning

This petition was rejected

Why was this petition rejected?

It’s not clear what the petition is asking the UK Government or Parliament to do.

Petitions need to call on the Government or Parliament to take a specific action.

We're not sure exactly what you'd like the Government or Parliament to do.

You may wish to sign the following:

Stop fines for taking children out of school on holiday
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/727960

Allow parents to take their children out of school for 5 school days in a year
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/728790

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.

Date submitted 16 July 2025
Get petition data (json format)

About petition data

The data shows the number of people who have signed the petition by country as well as in the constituency of each Member of Parliament. This data is available for all petitions on the site. It is not a list of people who have signed the petition. The only name that is shared on the site is that of the petition creator.