Any parent/carer who takes a child out of school for term time leave for which meets the criteria below and absence is not authorised by the school (under exceptional circumstances rule), may receive a Penalty Notice.
- 10 consecutive sessions (5 days) or more using the G code
- Parent/carer who went on the term-time leave or in the event of a relative/family friend taking the child on leave provided consent. Please note parent/carer who do not have day to day care and did not go on the leave will not receive a term-time leave Penalty Notice.
- Referrals, however, can be made for parent/carer who do not have day to day care but went on the term-time leave. In this instance, you must have an up to date address for this parent.
The first penalty notice issued to a parent in respect of a particular pupil will be charged at £160 if paid within 28 days. This will be reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days.
A second penalty notice issued to the same parent in respect of the same pupil is charged at a flat rate of £160 if paid within 28 days.
A third penalty notice cannot be issued to the same parent in respect of the same child within 3 years of the date of issue of the first. Please note any Penalty Notices issued for offences prior to 19th August 2024 will not be taken into consideration. In place of a third Penalty Notice Cambridgeshire County Council will consider prosecution.
Where a parent takes a child out of school during term time for an extended period (20 days or more), not authorised by the school, prosecution in relation to Section 444 Education Act 1996, may also be considered.
Referral for Penalty Notice for Term Time Leave form
Parent challenging decision
On occasions we receive communication from parent/carer disputing the Penalty Notice they have received and/or the attendance code used by the school.
We have a standard response to such enquires and a leaflet is sent to parent at the time of issuing the Penalty Notice so that they are aware of the limited options available to schools surrounding term-time leave absences.
Please see below wording which is sent to parents querying the G code being used:
- The Government department in charge of education (the DfE) issued new statutory guidance that came into effect on 19th August 2024. This was called ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’: Working together to improve school attendance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- The guidance means that Headteachers have a statutory duty to refer to the Local Authority any pupil who has been absent from school for 10 consecutive sessions (5 days) where a G code has been used. ‘G’ means the pupil has taken unauthorised term-time leave. The old ‘H’ code (holiday) has been removed because Headteachers are no longer able to or allowed to authorise term-time leave for holidays.
- Authorised term time leave is strictly for exceptional circumstances, which is defined as immediate and unavoidable. This code should be used sparingly as few requests for term time leave fit this definition. Headteachers may only authorise absence for exceptional circumstances. The only person who can decide whether a request for term time leave is granted, and therefore authorise an absence using the ‘C’ code, is the Headteacher. Headteachers must submit attendance data to the DfE, where they can be scrutinised for the overuse of this code.
- There is no statutory right of appeal against the issuing of a Penalty Notice.
Withdrawing Penalty Notices
From September 23, we will be charging schools £25 per term time leave (TTL) penalty notice which is cancelled for the following reasons:
-
Referral received requesting TTL PN be withdrawn due to school changing their mind.
-
CCC withdraw TTL PN due to inaccurate/ additional information being supplied by the school.
This charge will provide a contribution towards the cost of administrative tasks and follow up actions with the school.
Therefore, can we please remind schools to ensure that all lines of enquiry are exhausted, before consideration of a PN fine referral is sent to the LA. It is the school’s responsibility to check all the information submitted to the LA is accurate and to undertake any follow up required to check the validity of information sent by the parents, before a referral is submitted for a fine to be issued.
We hope that this approach will enable all of us to reduce the number of inaccurate referrals being made and penalty notices needing to be withdrawn. We are eager to show a united front in tackling the issue of families taking term time leave during school time.
Thank you for your understanding and partnership in this process.
To be used to request the withdrawal of a Penalty Notice issued to parent/carer for both Term Time Leave and Unauthorised Absences
Under the Cambridgeshire County Council Code of Conduct a Penalty Notice may be withdrawn by the County Council, regardless of whom within the authority issued it, if it is deemed that:
- a) the notice ought not to have been issued (i.e. where it has been issued outside of the terms of this Code of Conduct or where no offence has been committed); or
- b) the notice ought not to have been issued to the person named as the recipient.
Withdrawal is not automatic and by submitting this form your request will be considered by the Attendance Legal Panel and the outcome will be communicated to you.
Please note - Legal Panel sits every Monday with the exception of School Holidays.
Request for the withdrawal of a penalty notice for term time leave and unauthorised absence form
Withdrawing Penalty Notices for Term Time Leave only
From September 23, we will be charging schools £25 per term time leave (TTL) penalty notice which is cancelled for the following reasons:
-
Referral received requesting TTL PN be withdrawn due to school changing their mind.
-
CCC withdraw TTL PN due to inaccurate/ additional information being supplied by the school.
This charge will provide a contribution towards the cost of administrative tasks and follow up actions with the school.
Therefore, can we please remind schools to ensure that all lines of enquiry are exhausted, before consideration of a PN fine referral is sent to the LA. It is the school’s responsibility to check all the information submitted to the LA is accurate and to undertake any follow up required to check the validity of information sent by the parents, before a referral is submitted for a fine to be issued.
We hope that this approach will enable all of us to reduce the number of inaccurate referrals being made and penalty notices needing to be withdrawn. We are eager to show a united front in tackling the issue of families taking term time leave during school time.
Thank you for your understanding and partnership in this process.
If you are aware of the pupil’s destination and have confirmation of the new educational placement and that the pupil has started the new provision, the school is required to complete the online form below.
This includes instances where a pupil has relocated abroad and you have no reason to disbelieve the parents/carers. Whilst we acknowledge it is best practice to obtain a fixed address and/or school name, we recognise that this may not always be possible:
In all other cases where a school is unaware of a pupil’s destination and/or the pupil and families whereabouts– this also includes those pupils who fail to transfer to statutory education from nursery school, then a referral should be made to the central Attendance Team, after the school has made initial investigation to the pupil’s whereabouts, including a home visit. If a pupil is deemed vulnerable then the referral should be made immediately. Schools are required to complete online form below:
Referrals should be made after 10 days once a school has completed their own investigations, unless there are concerns regarding the child's vulnerability, then a referral can be made to the Investigating Officer immediately to support the school.
This form should not be used in instances where a pupil has relocated abroad and you have no reason to disbelieve the parents/carers. Whilst we acknowledge it is best practice to obtain a fixed address and/or school name, we recognise that this may not always be possible. Please use the Deletion from Register - Desitnation confirmed form.
If there is Social Care involvement then the Investigating Officer and the linked Social Worker should be informed immediately.
Do not remove the child from school roll until advised by the Investigation Officer. The DfE states the LA should be notified in advance of deletions from the register.
Notice to improve pathway is for families who have declined the offer of support or engagement is poor, in despite of multiple attempts to remove barriers to engagement. This pathway can also be used where a parent has declined the offer of entering into an attendance contract with the school.
https://cambridgeshire-self.achieveservice.com/service/Notice_to_Improve_Referral
Our online form to report pupils who have been absent for 10 consecutive school days is in progress.
Please note that this online form is NOT for CME, if you wish to refer for CME please complete the 10 day request form.
https://cambridgeshire-self.achieveservice.com/service/10_consecutive_day_absent_form
Our online form to report pupils who have been or could potentially be absent for 15 consecutive school days due to ill health, is in progress.
https://cambridgeshire-self.achieveservice.com/service/Notifying_pupil_absences_due_to_medical_needs
If a school receives notification of decision to EHE or parent approaches school regarding intention to EHE school, please refer to the below flowchart which will contain points of discussion and next steps. If the child meets the following criteria the ‘EHE Enquiry with LA’ online form below will need to be completed:
- open Social Care/Early Help involvement
- EHCP
- is a Young Carer
- open to an Education Inclusion Officer
- Pupil is from Military Family
If non of the above apply, on receiving a confirmation letter or email from the parent of their intention to home educate the school needs to refer to the local authority via the Elective Home Education Deregistration online form below, as soon as possible.
If the parent does not provide the school with a letter or email explaining their intent to home educate but you are aware that this is the case, then please refer using the Elective Home Education Deregistration online form below.
When a pupil is excluded from school for either a fixed term or permanently, S.103 Education and Inspections Act 2006 places a duty upon the parent/carer to ensure that the pupil is not present in a public place at any time within school hours during the first five days of their exclusion.
Please note public place is defined as ‘outside the boundary of the school’.
Before submitting this referral: A signed witness statement will be required from the person who saw the pupil in the public place and willing to submit this as part of this Penalty Notice Referral.
A template Section 9 Statement for schools can be found on the main Attendance Referral Learn Together page below:
The Section 9 Statement must be completed and submitted along with the Penalty Notice request. Guidance on the witness statement can be sought from your linked Local Authority Attendance Officer.
Request needs to be fully completed and submitted to the LA within 15 school days of the child being seen in the public place.
Penalty notice in respect of presence of excluded pupil in public place
