PARENTS have been urged not to take their children out of school for holidays after a survey revealed 80 per cent of students regularly miss lessons due to family trips.

The high figure is believed to be down to families trying to avoid expensive summer holiday prices by getting away in the quieter months when schools are still open.

But the Department for Skills and Education (DfES) has warned that parents should not automatically expect their child's school to agree to a family holiday during term-time.

In a test case in March this year, High Court judges backed a local authority which pursued legal action against a mother who took her children out of school for a holiday by declaring that schools have the right to decide whether children can be taken out of class.

Cllr Marion Clayton, schools portfolio holder at Buckinghamshire County Council, said children should only be taken out of school in exceptional circumstances.

She said: "Our view is that children need to be in school every day of the term. It is always more difficult to catch up and lengthy holidays do a lot of damage to a child's education. Schools have the right to authorise, or not, children being out of school but our policy is that it should not be done. There has to be a certain amount of discretion where there is justification, but a family holiday is not an excuse."

Paul Drew, marketing manager for cooptravelshop, the company that conducted the survey, said: "Like any other product, holidays are subject to the laws of supply and demand and in general terms, prices go up at times during school holidays when demand is greater."

ABTA, The Association of British Travel Agents, have launched a Every Lesson Counts initiative with DfES backing to try to hammer home the message that term-time holidays are no longer widely acceptable.

Cooptravelshop are also offering a five per cent discount scheme to make it easier for parents to choose holidays during the school break.