News · 15 August 2026
Parents face court as school absence rates keep rising
Hundreds of parents are being prosecuted in England this month due to their children's poor school attendance, and some may be fined. One father in Margate was fined £166 for taking his daughter on a term-time holiday, despite claiming it was for family stress. Overall absence rates for 2025-26 reached 6.93%, which is slightly higher than the previous year and remains above pre-Covid levels.
Reported by Guardian · How we write briefs