DROPPING her two daughters off at school, Wendy Nicholls* sensed an eerie quiet at the gates.
Gone is the usual rabble of stressed dispatching their children, while the class group is conspicuously quiet.
At pick-up time, the youngest of her two daughters, aged five and eight, tells her that lessons have hardly any kids in them.
No, this isn’t a flashback to the dark days of .
This is what the final week of looks like in 2025, when the trend sees a wave of parents pulling their children out of class for a cheaper – costing a fraction of the price compared to during the six-week break.
We have entered the era of SAS – Skiving And Saving – parenting, says mum Wendy, and office worker from Derby, as she tells why families are totally unfazed by term-time fines...
AS someone who sticks to the rules, I’ve booked a week-long holiday in a five-bed ramshackle cottage with my husband Bobby, a truck driver, in . Costing an eye-watering £2,000, I can’t help feeling like a mug.
My little ones’ pals, meanwhile, are enjoying a week in – while school is on – for a fraction of the cost.
A quick web search on popular holiday websiteFirst Choice reveals prices start at around £1568 perperson for a seven night all inclusive holiday for a family of fourin Turkey in the week before break up – and the lowest price you can get two weeks later for the same break is £2072.
And while I’m looking forward to my English seaside trip, it rankles that my potentially soggy beach days will cost more than their sun-soaked, free bar-fuelled ones.
A recent study found that parents have saved an average £567 by taking their kids out of school during term time.
The same report byConfused.comstates that 16 per cent of families scored a term-time offer that was over £1,000 cheaper than travelling in peak summer.
But while bagging a hot holiday deal seems tempting, fines for unauthorised term-time absences in and are now £80 per child – and per parent – if paid within 21 days, rising to £160 if paid within 28 days.
Repeated fines can lead to a potential fine of up to £2,500, or even a sentence.
But parents are clearly not put off by the fines, as in the 2023/24 academic year, 487,344 penalty notices were issued for unauthorised absences – a 22 per cent increase from 2022/23.
I’m so angry about this whole system. It feels like a tax on people with constrained budgets.
Carrie Ann Booth'SAS' mum
One parent who is unfazed by the fines is Carrie Ann Booth, 43.
The mum-of-one from Carlisle, , who is married, says: “We saved £1,500 by taking my daughter out of school and going on holiday during the last week of term.
“We’re going on a two-week around , visiting , and after saving up for two years.
“For us, it’s about the , the art, the culture and languages my daughter will soak up.
“She would certainly not get that in school during the last week of term, when it is lots of drawing and reflecting on the year.”;
Despite saving big, Carrie Ann, a former teacher and now the owner of an educational , The Science Booth, says the fines are unfair.
“I’ve been fined £160 – £80 per parent – for taking my nine-year-old daughter on our holiday of a lifetime,”; she says.
“I’m so angry about this whole system. It feels like a tax on people with constrained budgets.
“I tried to find a way to skip the fine, but the only exemptions included home educating my daughter. I seriously considered de-registering my daughter from school – just for a week – saying she’d be officially home-educated. But I worried she’d lose her place for the September term.”;
But Rachel Vecht, 51, a former teacher from central London, who founded the parent support group Educating Matters, warns that prolonged gaps in school attendance have a .
“Missing school even sporadically can impact long-term learning, resulting in poor grades,”; she explains.
“It can also impact children’s self-esteem and mental wellbeing if they return to school and feel like they are far behind their peers academically.”;
Quality time
Mum-of-one Paulomi Debnath, 45, from Romford, east , downplays the negative impact taking kids out of school might have.
“I want to set a good example to my son, 14, about not breaking rules, but I also want him to experience different countries,”; says Paulomi, an artist who owns the company Handmade By Tinni.
“I saved £1,200 on a family holiday to Kos, two years ago, just by taking my son, then 12, out of school one week early.
“But I have not done this since, as I was threatened with legal action in the school’s ‘telling off’ letter that accompanied our £120 fine. The note said I could be prosecuted if I took my son out of school again in the next three years.”;
Teachers are also stuck with expensive, out-of-term-time holidays
Alice AbrahamTeacher
As I drag my two little girls to school, the sense that I’m one of the few mugs taking their kids on holiday at the official time is confirmed by primary teacher Alice Abraham, 41.
“Classrooms are empty,”; she tells me. “There is hardly any point being there as the kids have clocked off mentally, ready for their summer .
“Teachers are also stuck with expensive, out-of-term-time holidays.”;
Switched-on parents are embracing the challenge of getting cheap holidays. They are also wising up to the fact that across England have differing rules.
Retail worker Louise Brown, 35, who has two sons aged 18 and 15, says: “My 15-year-old’s attendance throughout the year is over 95 per cent, so I never feel guilty about taking him out at the end of a school term for .
“Every year, I flout a school rule loophole that states we can never take our child out of school for longer than five days – after five days, the school would issue a fine.
Four days away from school isn’t the end of the world
Louise Brown
“So I book a holiday right at the end of the school year, or close to half term, saving around £1000 on the cost of a two-week holiday – even though a week of our break overlaps with the school holidays when prices shoot up.”;
Louise, who is married to Brian, 48, who works in retail and lives in , , also doesn’t believe short absences have an impact on education.
“Families need quality time together,”; she says. “Four days away from school isn’t the end of the world.”;
While I might feel like the only parent NOT taking my children on holiday during the last week of school, it looks like more parents may be forced to follow my lead in coming years.
Family law solicitor Kaleel Anwar, of Slater Heelis, warns that missing the last week of the term doesn’t make a large fine less likely.
“Families are going to have to accept that in the near future, they are not going to be able to get a cheap holiday during term time,”; he says.
He adds: “We’ve already seen a big clamp down form the government in terms of fines recently.
“At the moment, families are still saving quite a considerable amount of by paying the fines in comparison to the thousands they save on holidays.
“I think we will see them clamp down even further with higher fines if the rate of school absences continues to stay high.
“And it is worth remembering you cannot generally ‘fight’ a fine for taking a holiday during term time in the same way you might challenge a parking ticket.
“You can attempt to have the notice withdrawn by contacting the school and providing evidence that supports your case, but if the fine is upheld and not paid, you could face prosecution.”;
With the threat of prosecution, plus the dirty look I’d get from the headteacher, I think I’ll take an outrageously expensive staycation over a humiliating appearance.
- *Some names have been changed
