Create inset weeks so families can book cheaper holidays, schools urged

Headteachers are being urged to group together school inset days into full weeks to reduce term-time absences and enable families to book more affordable holidays.

The proposal comes from travel company On the Beach, which claims the measure would solve a problem the government “has run out of answers to”.

Most schools in England currently have five inset days annually, with Welsh schools observing six.

These are days when teachers work but pupils do not attend.

While schools determine their own schedules, these days are rarely grouped together.

On the Beach has written to 25,000 headteachers across England and Wales, requesting they implement regionally staggered inset weeks.

The company said enabling families of schoolchildren to book week-long trips outside of term time would give them “access to holidays at a fraction of peak-season prices”.

Analysis by insurer Go.Compare published in July last year found the average price of a package holiday in Spain was 20% higher during school breaks compared with term time, which was equivalent to an extra £337 per person.

Parents can be fined if their children have unauthorised absences from school.

The daily rate is £80 if paid within three weeks, or £160 if paid within four weeks.

Recent Department for Education (DfE) figures show nearly 460,000 fines for unauthorised family holidays were issued in 2024/25.

Zoe Harris, chief customer officer at On the Beach, said: “Families shouldn’t have to choose between following the rules and being able to afford time away together.

“The real frustration we hear is that parents can see cheaper off-peak holidays, but there’s no straightforward way to access them without their children missing school, and that’s exactly where inset weeks can help.

“Approximately 25,000 headteachers hold the key to getting more families on holiday for less, boosting attendance figures and solving a problem that the Department for Education has run out of answers to.

“Inset weeks are the answer.”

Andy Stirland, principal at Python Hill Academy in Nottinghamshire, which has had an inset week tagged on to the spring bank holiday every May for the past seven years, said: “Parents should not be faced with fines or enforcement for wanting to spend family time together.

“Inset week has allowed families at our school the option of cheaper holidays while maintaining our attendance figures.

“Our school attendance figures have been above the national average every year and I believe without inset week this would be a very different story.”

The DfE was approached for a comment.