Unauthorised absence in Year 13

[Wynturphelle]

It looks like I may have to take my Year 13 student out of sixth form college for 10 days. The school are advising that this would be unauthorised absence and that we would be referred for a penalty fine. The school also referred me to the county council absence policy which reads ' A child continues to be of compulsory school age until the last Friday in June in the school year that they reach the age of 16. After this age, the legal requirement to participate in education or training will fall to the young person. '

As my child will be outside of the compulsory school age when we take the unauthorised absence would we still be liable for a fine as he is enrolled at the school? Is my child liable for the fine instead? Thanks.

I'm a Head of Sixth Form. Others are correct that the school cannot fine, but they can make a decision to not enter him for all of his A Levels if his attendance is poor, and while two weeks wouldn't qualify for this then if he needs to take more unexpected time off for illness or bereavement then it might. He is also likely to have days off to visit universities which is going to further reduce his attendance.

More than that though I would be incredibly frustrated that you are purposely undermining the need to go to school. If he feels ill in the autumn then nothing you or teachers say about the importance of attending school is going to make him feel that he can't take time off because you've previously supported that.

Finally, and perhaps you are not but it doesn't sound like that, please don't underestimate the importance of lessons in Year 13. Again and again I see students with lower attendance figures in year 13 getting to Easter and just not being able to pull back lessons missed. Some students and parents think that all lessons can be caught up through text books and online resources. If it were true then teaching would become an obselete profession. Much more than y11 and even y12 the lesson is far more about the knowledge and experience of the teacher than simply reading and completing a resource.

Please support the school on this one. They have your son's best interest at heart.

Hollow I don't know if anyone I was at 6th Form with was actually married but I know some had moved out of their family homes and were living independently (and possibly with boyfriend/girlfriend). Infact a girl in my year group had moved out of home when we were still in 5th Year (ie Year 11). She was 16.
As for 'independent study' what I meant was that the vast majority of A levels is working on your own rather than in lessons. I had more 'free periods' - where you spent the time doing your actual assignments than classroom time. You were basically meant to do almost all the work yourself. At least that's how it was in the early 90s.

"Isn't a lot of Year 13 fairly independent learning anyway and with the internet your child will be able to communicate with their teachers and fellow students easily and really not miss that much."

No. You clearly don't have any idea of having children in year 13. It might possibly be OK for some non facilitating subjects, but for science and maths missing 10 days of school at such a crucial time will definitely have an impact on A level grades.

And ignore StereophonicallyChallenged who clearly has absolutely no idea about the pressures that being in year 13 entails. This time last year DD had not finished her A level courses (not helped by having had several snow days due to the Beast from the East).

Please take notice of Bunnylove83's post. It makes perfect sense. Why would you jeopardise your child's chances of getting into a good university?

Bookmum that's irrelevant where they were living they weren't missing 2 weeks school at a critical time. You're being disingenuous.. Alo bollo that you don't know if anyone in your class was married, it's not the norm!

Ten days? No way would I say that's a good idea.

OK OK I am obviously wrong about how A levels are taught these days. Back in my day we probably had about 3 actual classroom lessons of a subject a week and the rest was 'free periods' - ie study time. I only did one year of 6th Form though. Essentially because I found this method of learning (basically being left to my own devices) hard.
And as for being married at 17. It's perfectly legal so technically you could quite easily be a Year 13er and be married. The point was about fines for missing school. Who would they fine? The husband or wife? Plus Year 13ers turn 18. Legal adult. Who would the fine go to then? That's why they can't really fine 6th Formers for absenses. It's unworkable!

Oh and I do know several from my year group who at 17 who were living with a boyfriend or girlfriend, or had a baby and a couple of girls possibly had actually got married by 17 or 18. Not that unusual. They just weren't at 6th Form.

I would not let them miss school for anything other than serious illness, I might add the same for university. Only you can judge the event vs school balancing act but bar the Olympics (only every 4 years) i would question why they cannot go next time.

You are very clearly not up to date with how important A levels are now bookmum08

A levels are now linear, not modular. AS levels are being phased out. Comparing what 6th form was like when you were at school is irrelevant. As I said in a previous post DD did her A levels last year. If I had taken her out of school for 10 days at this time of year she would have been panic stricken. Your points about being married are also irrelevant. I agree that the parents wouldn't be fined, but I also think that taking a year 13 child out of school for 10 days for such a spurious reason so close to A levels is, quite frankly, shit parenting.

A levels weren't modular in my day either. That's probably why I couldn't do them.
Yes I said I was out of date.
However A levels are only important if you want them to be important. We have no idea what the OPs son wants to do after Year 13. He might not even want to go to uni. He could only be in Year 13 because of the 'stay in education or training until 18' thing. I wouldn't say it's 'crap parenting' to do this. Anyway I would of thought it would be the 17 year olds decision whether or not to take time off.
But it seems no one will agree with me so I will say Good Night!

I'm mildly baffled about why an institution, which is described in OP as a sixth form college is mentioning fines at all.

Sixth formers are outside CSA, so colleges just don't operate that way.

But they are very keen to minimise absences, because A level courses are quite short. Missing two weeks is definitely a big deal from their pov

Op does your son want to take the time off?

"However A levels are only important if you want them to be important."

I don't know what to say to this. If they aren't important then why is he taking them? A levels aren't the only post 16 option.

Unbelievable!!! At NO point did the OP ask any of you for your opinion about her child missing school for this event ! Literally not a single word. Yet you are ALL so superior... omg!!! Ten days . End of the world.

None of your business. Entirely the business of the 18yr old and possibly his/her parent .

The post was about compulsory school. No OP they can't fine you. Compulsory school age is still the last Friday in June if the child will be 16 before the end of the summer holidays.

They can't fine you, no, but I would suggest having s conversation with the head of 6th about it now, so that something can be put in place
In the 6th form I work at, we have managed to overcome planned absences with extra study periods, early set homework, additions to the timetable etc. (my job involves doing this for students who may require it)
If it's his only absence, and it's well planned he will be fine. The issue is if there are any unplanned absences in addition to this, that would cause problems in year 13, so all you can do is minimise this disruption.
It's unideal - particularly for his subject teachers, but the first handful of weeks in year 13 is much better than later down the line with good planning.

Just for the record, I was married when I went to 6th form. To another 6th former 😀
Although there were no fines back then, so I can't answer that question

How independent is your son? Why doesn't he just stay at home?

Depends though.
If, for example, I was 17 and my brother had been selected for the Olympics and then won a medal and the entire family were there except me, it would piss me off until my dying day.
Education is important. It isn't everything though. Is it?

Totally legal now they are expected to stay in some form of education until 18 and IMO quite right to fine you, taking them out if school for that reason in a crucial year.

He wants to come. I want him to stay at home. As previous poster mentioned it was more about the legality of it. College are not entering in to any communication about it, rather frustratingly, and maintain we would be liable for a fine. We would like to explore the possibility of planning to cover the missed time before we make a decision. Myself and my partner are happy to tutor the missed lessons and put in extra time on top - we have done this with GCSEs (not to cover absence though) and it worked well.

The two weeks of study would be my prime concern.
I wouldn’t even get as far as worrying about the fine.

College are not entering in to any communication about it, rather frustratingly, and maintain we would be liable for a fine

That is unhelpful. Have they explained to your son why it's so important or do they just keep going on about the fine?

Whether he is fined or not will depend on the school and/or the Lea.
Although not in compulsory education in year 13, you and he have signed up for him to be in full time education.

It's like some schools/LEAs will fine parents of 4 year olds in eyfs. Although not legally having to be there, once signed up you've made the commitment to ft education til 18.

As for education and results after missing 10 days. That depends on his current education state, commitment, how much extra study he does, etc.
Many schools do allow time away for studies in y12 and early y13 for other reasons - mainly things like fortnight work experience, open days, etc. So they're not adverse to missing tine and it not affecting studies. However so much depends on individual students, their courses and their attitudes.

Good Morning TapasForTwo. The reason I said A Levels are only important if you want them to be important is because of this new stay in education or training rule. At 16 many teens have absolutely no clue what they want to 'do' in life. In the past many will have just gone and got a job and got on with life that way. However now they have to decide where and what to do with the extra two years. Some may choose A Levels because they want to stay in the familiar surroundings of their school. Or because their friends are doing that and they want to stay with them. Or because the choices at their local FE college are too job specific and as they are clueless about what they want to do in life they don't feel college is for them. Or maybe they found a college course that interested them but it isn't actually offered at their town college but at the 'other' campus which is 20 miles away in the next town and they have no way of actually getting there. I chose to 'stay on' at 6th Form because I was quite young for my age, clueless about what I wanted to do with life and terrified about leaving my school for the 'adult' world. University and the local FE college weren't even really on my radar. I stayed at school because I didn't know what to do with myself not because I thought A Levels were important. I would think that 6th Forms are probably more full of teens like that now they have to stay in education or training.

I would be more concerned with them missing 2 weeks of school at a crucial time and jeopardising their A levels than a possible £60 per parent fine. You seem to have your priorities wrong.

Bear in mind also that if his chosen A levels involve coursework his absence may fundamentally impact this and perhaps others if the coursework is done in groups.