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UK parents have paid £41 million in fines for taking their children out of school during term time since 2022, new research has revealed.
According to data collected by Confused.com, councils across England and Wales have issued more than 873,000 Fixed Penalty Notices for unauthorised school absences between 2022 and 2024.
The insurance comparison site gathered the figures through Freedom of Information requests to local education authorities in the UK in February 2025.
It found that parents and guardians in England were also more likely to face a fine, with 873,062 fines issued to parents, compared to just 2,762 in Wales.
As of August 2025, parents who travel with youngsters during term time risk fines of up to £160 per parent for each child, as well as potential legal action from their local council if they do not pay within 28 days.
Confused.com said that 1 in 4 parents have received a fine for taking their child out of school for a holiday during term time, and almost 17 per cent have received a warning.
However, many families still choose to take off-peak holidays to beat soaring prices during the summer months.
On average, parents saved £567 by taking their kids out of school during term time, when considering travel prices over peak season.
In some cases, savings were even higher, with 16 per cent of families saying they scored a term-time offer that was over £1,000 cheaper than travelling in summer.
A OnePoll survey of 1,200 UK parents with children aged 16 or below this April found that nearly 2 in 5 who had an unauthorised absence admit to taking their child out of school for a holiday, with 56 per cent citing cheaper travel as the reason.
Despite the threat of a potential penalty, 86 per cent of parents would consider taking their child out of school for a holiday, depending on their age.
In Essex alone, 35,605 fines generated more than £2 million in parent penalties.
Bradford City Council has issued 35,023 fines since 2022, totalling £1.8 million.
Alvaro Iturmendi, a Confused.com travel insurance expert, warned that councils can take legal action if absences happen repeatedly during term time, so “while the savings could seem worth it, the consequences could be far more severe than you realise”.
He said: “With prices often soaring outside of term time, some parents are weighing up the potential cost of a fine against the savings they can make by travelling off-peak.
“However, it’s important to understand that fines for unauthorised absences can quickly add up as they’re typically issued per parent, per child. So, a £60 fine could double to £120 for a two-parent household, and even more, if you have multiple children.”
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