Holiday prices in the weeks either side of school half terms will surge, expert warns

Travellers looking to save on holidays will now need to avoid either side of half term thanks to new regulations.

Last month, the Government introduced rules to deter parents from taking their children out of school for holidays and other unauthorised absences.

The minimum fine for parents who take their children out of school in term time without permission has increased from £60 to £80.

If parents fail to pay their fine within 21 days it doubles to £160.

The penalty notices are issued to each parent who allows their child to be absent. This means that three siblings who had an unauthorised absence in term time would result in each parent who allowed the absence, receiving three separate fines.

Now, a travel agent is warning that the fines could have a detrimental effect on the prices of holidays.

Generally, travellers without children have been advised they travel outside of the school holidays to avoid price surges.

However, Holidaybuzz says it is anticipating a surge in ‘peak creep’, where he cost of holidays may increase on either side of half term breaks.

Holidaybuzz warns that families looking to save money without being fined may choose to overlap their holidays with official school holidays to minimise the number of unauthorised absence days.

This would help to avoid breaching the new threshold for fines, which is the equivalent of five school days over a 10-week period.

One family who made a booking through the agent said they planned to return a day after the school term starts to make a saving of nearly £800 on their holiday to Fuerteventura in January.

Jason Waldron, of Holidaybuzz, says: ‘While we do not support the practice of taking children out of school for holidays, we do recognise the reasons why some families may choose to do so during these periods since prices can nearly double during peak season.’

There are some ways families can adhere to the new absence rules and save on their holiday, though.

They can opt for a five night holiday instead of seven, which helps to avoid the more expensive weekend flights.

Holidaybuzz says a five day trip to Lisbon could cost as little as £235 during the school holidays, if you avoid flying on Saturday and Sunday.

Other tips include booking as early as possible and opting for a destination whose low season coincides with half-term breaks, like the Caribbean in August or October half term.

Will you be fined if you take a child out of school for a holiday?  

Previously, children could only miss school if they were too ill to go in or have received advance permission from the school.

If a parent wants to take their children out of school in term time, there need to be ‘exceptional circumstances’ and they need to make an application to the head teacher in advance, who will authorise the absence at their discretion.

Local authorities control their own policies on when to issue fines, so the likelihood of being fined will depend entirely on which council a child’s school is in.

To avoid inconsistencies, the previous Government issued a new ‘national framework’ for when a penalty notice must be by considered by all schools.

These new rules say that schools should consider a fine if a child has missed 10 sessions, equivalent to five days of school, without advance permission.

The minimum fine for parents who take their children out of school in term time without permission have increased to £80.

If a parent receives a second fine for the same child within any three-year period, they will immediately be charged £160.

Fines per parent will be capped at two fines within three years and once that limit has been reached, the Department of Education says a parenting order or prosecution will be considered.

If you attend court because your child hasn’t been attending school, you could receive a fine of up to £2,500 and it could show up on a parent’s future DBS certificate due to ‘failure to safeguard a child’s education’.