SNP minister issues warning to parents over term-time holidays amid school absence crisis

Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth highlighted the legal obligation to send children to school, and said it was “hugely important” as part of efforts to improve attainment and the wellbeing of youngsters.

Attendance rates in Scottish schools are still to bounce back from the the disruption caused to education during the Covid pandemic, with close to a third of pupils being absent for 10 per cent or more last year.

The overall pupil attendance rate in 2023/24 was 90.3 per cent, a very slight improvement on the 90.2 in the year before, but still below the 93 per cent in 2018/19.

Absences that were “authorised”, mainly sickness, accounted for 5.9 per cent of the rest of the time last year.

And of all the days throughout the year that should have been spent in school, 3.8 per cent of them were missed because of absences that were “unauthorised”.

The biggest contributor to unauthorised absences was “unexplained” reasons, such as truancy, but after that it was unauthorised family holidays.

They now account for more than a quarter of unauthorised absences, and about one per cent of the school year is now being missed by these holidays, up from 0.7 per cent before the pandemic.

The trend has been blamed on the huge price rises faced by families for trips during holiday periods.

At the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday, Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie said: “We do know that some families are finding it difficult to pay for holidays at peak times, so are taking their children out of school at other periods.

“What message does the Cabinet secretary have for them, but also for the holiday companies who seek to exploit peak periods?

Ms Gilruth responded: “I think the member raises a very topical matter in relation to parents perhaps choosing to take holidays during the school term.

“Of course as a former teacher I would not support that course of action. And of course there are legal obligations for parents and carers to send their children to school during the school term, and that is for good reason.

“When we look at the broader picture in terms of improving attainment post-pandemic, and trying to improve children’s health and wellbeing, attending school is hugely important.

“That being said, our families across Scotland just now are facing a number of different challenges. We need to be cognisant of that and support them in the best way that we are able to.”

In England, fines of £80 can be imposed on parents for taking children out of class without permission for five school days.

Repeated failure to ensure school attendance can result in a court prosecution, a fine of up to £2,500, a community order and even a jail sentence of up to three months.

Parents are not fined in Scotland but education authorities can take legal action, including through attendance orders.