Almost 400,000 penalty notices were issued to parents in England last year for failing to ensure their child attends school, much higher than pre-pandemic levels, latest figures have shown.

The Department for Education (DfE) statistics showed 356,181 of the 398,796 fines (89.3%) were for unauthorised holidays, as families looked to book cheaper vacations outside school term times.

That unauthorised holiday figure has more than trebled since 2016-17, when 115,652 such fines were imposed.

Just 1,000 penalties were issued for lateness in 2022-23, with the remainder being imposed for other reasons, the DfE said.

The figures for 2018-19 showed 333,338 unauthorised absence penalties were issued to parents – the last statistics collected before Covid struck – meaning the 2022-23 figure has risen by a fifth since then.

No figures were collated the following year and pandemic disruption greatly reduced the number of fines issued until this year.

The use of penalty notices by local authorities varied across England, the DfE said, with three local authorities issuing none, while four local authorities issued more than 10,000 penalty notices each.

The statistics showed 28 out of 152 English local authorities (18%) accounted for more than half of all penalty notices issued.

The £60 unauthorised absence fines were one tool to be used to encourage higher attendance, with families who have children frequently missing school given support.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We know that regular school attendance is vital for a child’s education, wellbeing and future life chances.

“Parents have a duty to make sure their child regularly attends school, and holidays should be around school breaks to avoid taking children out of school during term time.”

“Our guidance is based on a support-first ethos, however we support schools and local authorities to use punitive measures such as fines where it is deemed appropriate.”

A headteachers’ union called the fines “ineffective”.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “Fines have always been too blunt an instrument when it comes to tackling persistent absenteeism.

“The use of fines is controversial, and it is becoming clear that they are ineffective in addressing overall absence.

“Unless more is done to find out the reasons behind continual periods of absence and tackle the root causes behind persistent absenteeism, including support for vulnerable families and for children and young people’s mental health, fining families is unlikely to solve the issue.”