School attendance

Although schools are best placed to provide education for children and young people, sometimes there are situations where a child may need additional support above that available from the school. In these situations, as the local authority, we have a duty under Section 19 of the Education Act 1996.

We work together with schools following guidance from the Department for Education. This guide is designed to help you find the right team who can support you if you feel we have a duty under this legislation.

Parents are legally responsible for making sure their child receives a suitable full-time education, usually from the age of 5 to 16. Most children and young people receive their education in school. You can find information on how to apply for a school place on our school admissions pages.

For more information on parental responsibilities and the alternative ways in which children may be educated, please refer to:

• The Department for Education's guidance for parents on getting your child to school (opens PDF)
• School attendance and absence guidance for parents on the GOV.UK website

There may be reasons why a child doesn't want to go to school. Good school attendance starts with close and productive relationships between schools, parents and pupils, so it is important schools and families work together.

If you have concerns about your child's attendance, you should contact the school early to seek their advice and support.

For more information on who to contact, please refer to your school's attendance policy. This should be available on the school's website, or you can ask the school for a copy.

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 fifth birthday, whichever comes first. If your child's fifth birthday is on one of those dates, then they reach compulsory school age on that date.

For any absences known in advance, such as medical appointments, schools and the local authority encourage parents to make appointments outside of school hours. Where this is not possible, parents should get the school's agreement in advance. The pupil should only be out of school for the minimum amount of time necessary for the appointment.

For leave of absence, such as term-time holidays, parents must request and complete a leave of absence application form in advance. These are available directly from the school.

Requests may or may not be authorised.

Penalty notice requests are made by schools to the local authority in which their school is based. For example, if your child lives in Peterborough, but attends a school outside of Peterborough, you may receive a penalty notice from the local authority in which your child's school is based.

Penalty notices are sent by post. 

When contacting the local authority about any penalty notice fines that you have received due to school absence, please make sure you contact the correct local authority as detailed on the letter.

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 three years and must consider other sanctions, which may include prosecution.

Fines related to excluded pupils attract a fine of £120 (reduced to £60 if paid within 21 days).

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

Fines are payable to Peterborough City Council as detailed in your letter. All penalty notice fine payments are retained by Peterborough City Council and are used for the purposes of administering the local penalty notice scheme.

Please contact the Attendance Team at asadmin@peterborough.gov.uk.

If you are issued with a penalty notice fine and do not pay by the 28th day deadline, the Local Authority will consider taking prosecution action under Section 444 Education Act 1996. Should you wish to share any additional information or evidence, to support your case for exceptional circumstances, please, submit to your child's school for the headteacher to review.

Should you wish to discuss the notice itself, please contact the Attendance Team at asadmin@peterborough.gov.uk.

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 (see above)

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.