Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the evidential basis is for concluding that Fixed Penalty Notices for school attendance offences improve long-term pupil attendance.

The causes of school absence are complex and penalty notices are one part of a wider toolkit to help ensure children receive the education they are entitled to. The government remains committed to a support-first approach, with enforcement only used in cases where support is not appropriate, has not been engaged with or is not proving effective.

Recent data suggests this approach is having a positive impact. In the 2024/2025 academic year, the rate of absence due to unauthorised holidays fell from 0.53% to 0.48%, equating to around 1.3 million fewer missed sessions compared with 2023/2024. Penalty notices are primarily targeted at term-time holidays, which accounted for 93% of notices issued in 2024/2025.