School attendance and absence

Your child must start full-time education once they reach compulsory school age. This is on 31 December, 31 March or 31 August following their 5th birthday, whichever comes first. If your child’s 5th birthday is on one of those dates, then they reach compulsory school age on that date.

You could be issued with a penalty notice if your child misses school without permission.

Read more in our Code of Conduct - Penalty Notices for school absence (PDF, 200KB).

Reasons for penalty notices include:

• truancy
• unauthorised absence
• your child was identified during a school attendance and exclusion sweep
• excluded pupils found in a public place during the first 5 days of exclusion
• holidays in term time without permission

Note: Legal action may be taken if a family goes on holiday during term time without the school's permission. Instead of a penalty notice, the case could go directly to the Magistrates for their consideration in court. If found guilty by the Magistrates, parents could each face a fine of up to £2,500 and/or 3 months imprisonment.

Who should I contact about a penalty notice?

Penalty notice requests are made by schools to the local authority in which their school is based. For example, a pupil who lives in Suffolk but attends an Essex school will receive a penalty notice from Essex County Council. If your child lives in Essex but attends a school outside of Essex, you may receive a penalty notice from the local authority in which your child's school is based. 

When contacting the local authority about any penalty notice fines that you have received due to school absence, please ensure that you contact the correct local authority.

How much does a penalty notice cost?

The Department for Education has introduced a new Statutory National Framework, that all schools and local authorities in England must follow from 19 August 2024.

There is now a single consistent national threshold for when a penalty notice must be considered by all schools in England of 10 sessions (usually equivalent to 5 school days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10 school week period. These sessions do not have to be consecutive and can be made up of a combination of any type of unauthorised absence, including lateness.

• if a penalty notice is issued for an offence of unauthorised absence, the first will attract a fine of up to £160 per pupil, per parent (reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days)
• a second offence in three years will attract a flat rate fine of £160 per pupil, per parent

Schools and local authorities cannot issue a third penalty notice in 3 years, and must consider other sanctions, which may include prosecution.

Penalty notices are sent by post.

Please speak to the school if you need more information about the new rules.

Fines are payable to Essex County Council. All penalty notice fine payments are retained by Essex County Council and are used for the purposes of administering the local penalty notice scheme.

For absences recorded by Essex schools prior to 19 August 2024, penalty fines cost £60 per child, per parent, if you pay within 21 days or £120 per child, per parent if you pay within 28 days. You could be prosecuted if you don’t pay the fine after 28 days.

How to pay

You can pay your fine online.

What happens if I don't pay my fine within 28 days?

If you are issued with a penalty notice fine and do not pay by the 28th day deadline, the Attendance Compliance Team will consider taking prosecution action under section 444 Education Act 1996. If prosecution action is to be taken, you will receive a Notice of Intention to Prosecute. Should you wish to share any additional information with the local authority, to support their decision-making in your case, please contact the Attendance Compliance Team using the contact details below.

Withdrawal of a penalty notice

A penalty notice can only be withdrawn if it:

• contains errors
• is shown that it should not have been issued
• did not follow the Code of Conduct - Penalty Notices for school absence (PDF, 200KB).

Appeal a penalty notice

There is no right of appeal against a penalty notice. Contact your child's school if you think a penalty notice should not have been issued.