Holidays and schools uk
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Your child won’t start school until next September.
Op probably means nursery or they'll be 4 before Sept and go into reception. Either way it's irrelevant as you're only fined if they miss school when they're of compulsory school age which is after they turn 5. You're fine, even then it's only if they miss 5 full days. Book holidays for bank holiday or teacher training weeks to get around this x
Your child will not be starting school this year, but when they do it’s not actually compulsory until the term after they turn 5, so you wouldn’t get a fine until then.
@Samantha don't the rules include 5 days including inset days/bank hols? I'm unsure x
My sons hol has just been declined b6 the school but he's only 4 and doesn't turn 5 till June and we're going away in may. Was wondering how to do it next year tbh but if we gonna get fined I'm gonna take him out of school for however long I want to x
@Amie you only get fined twice and then you get a criminal record for neglect and potential jail time x
As said above, your child won’t start school until September 2026 (September after they turn 4) But you are exempt from fines until the term after they turn 5. After then yes any unauthorised absences can cause you to be issued a fine. If you get 3 fines in a 3yr period, you will be taken to court and could potentially receive a jail sentence. X
Your child isn't starting school in September as they'll be a year too young. Do you mean they're starting at a school nursery? Regardless, it doesn't matter as they don't technically need to be in school until the term after they turn 5 so that's when you'd be eligible for a fine.
Thanks for answering this. This was very helpful. What I meant was a school nursery. Where I am at children can enrol into school at age 3 I am guessing it's a school with a nursery.
If your child is in nursery, you won’t be fined. Technically, by law they won’t be required to go to school legally until they’re 5 so year 1 technically.
My daughter goes to nursery, she will be 2 in March. If I take her to stay with my mum over summer holidays , do you think it will be fine with the nursery and I am not gonna lose her space? I have 15 funded hours
@Nastia you’ll be fine to take her out but you’ll still be required to pay for her space whilst she’s not attending if the nursery charges on top of the funded hours.
Not read all the comments so apologies if I’m repeating something. Children don’t legally have to be in school until they’re 5, so any holidays taken before 5 they can’t fine you for xxx
The rule is they are allowed 5 days off depending on the percentage of attendance. So I'm going away in may in school term and we were granted it because it's only 5 days, one of them being bank holiday and her attendance at the moment is 98.6 ( she had one day off due to illness) so we don't get fined. It's also up to the schools choice whether or not you get fined. Usually those in reception they don't really mind as they don't actually learn a lot in the first few weeks
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Where we are in Wales, children can start school at 3. My little girl turned 3 in May and started school nursery in June. As others have said I don’t believe they can fine until they are legally required to attend. We miss the odd day if we want to do something and it’s never been an issue.
Age 3 is preschool. They don’t start actual school until they are 4. Or technically 5 but that comes with complications. To go on holiday during term time in preschool is allowed. Just notify the school as soon as possible. However if you take too much holiday and sick days your funding can be stopped by the government.
If your child is going to be 3 in April, they’d be starting school in Sept 2026.