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The schools who hand out the most fines to parents in Brighton and Hove have been revealed. New data shows that Hove Park School has issued the highest number of fines in a five year period, from 2019 to 2025 so far: 860 in total. A Freedom of Information Request obtained by The Argus reveals that across the city local secondary schools issued a total of 3,150 fines since 2019.
Of these, 963 fines were issued to parents in a single academic year, 2023 to 2024 - the highest since 2019. Here is the full list: Blatchington Mill School 2 (2019-2020) 12 (2020 - 2021) 35 (2021 - 2022) 54 (2022 - 2023) 54 (2023 - 2024) 13 (2024 - 2025) Brighton Aldridge Community Academy 18 (2019-2020) 1 (2020 - 2021) 1 (2021 - 2022) 42 (2022 - 2023) 100 (2023 -2024) 34 (2024 - 2025) Cardinal Newman Catholic School 19 (2019 - 2020) 2 (2020 - 2021) 17 (2021 - 2022) 72 (2022 - 2023) 96 (2023 - 2024) 21 (2024 - 2025) Dorothy Stringer School 50 (2019 - 2020) 12 (2020 - 2021) 15 (2021 - 2022) 16 (2022 - 2023) 89 (2023 - 2024) 52 (2024 - 2025) Hove Park School 184 (2019 - 2020) 66 (2020 - 2021) 174 (2021 - 2022) 182 (2022 - 2023) 192 (2023 - 2024) 62 (2024 - 2025) King's School 18 (2019 - 2020) 2 (2020 - 2021) 21 (2021 - 2022) 19 (2022 - 2023) 19 (2023 - 2024) 9 (2024 - 2025) Longhill School 23 (2019 - 2020) 11 (2020 - 2021) 46 (2021 - 2022) 72 (2022 - 2023) 58 (2023 - 2024) 18 (2024 - 2025) Patcham High School 40 (2019 - 2020) 27 (2020 - 2021) 137 (2021 - 2022) 109 (2022 - 2023) 129 (2023 - 2024) 57 (2024 - 2025) Portslade Aldridge Community Academy 64 (2019 - 2020) 13 (2020 - 2021) 80 (2021 - 2022) 91 (2022 - 2023) 154 (2023 - 2024) 42 (2024 - 2025) Varndean School 27 (2019 - 2020) 4 (2020 - 2021) 27 (2021 - 2022) 48 (2022 - 2023) 72 (2023 - 2024) 26 (2024 - 2025) Grand Total 445 (2019 - 2020) 150 (2020 - 2021) 553 (2021 - 2022) 705 (2022 - 2023) 963 (2023 - 2024) 334 (2024 - 2025) The penalties are designed to keep children in school. They are a form of legal action that can be taken if parents have not kept their children in regular attendance or if they have taken their child out of school without permission.
If a school absence fine is paid within 21 days, it costs £60 per child, per parent. However if the fine is paid anywhere between 22 and 28 days, the amount doubles to £120. (Image: PA) Then after 28 days, if the fine remains unpaid, parents can be taken to court where penalties can be much more severe, including fines of up to £2,500.
While the data shows that Hove Park School issued the highest number of fines, Patcham High School followed closely behind, issuing 499 over the past five years. Portslade and Aldridge Community College (PACA) was next, with 444 fines during the same period. The King's School issued the fewest fines overall from 2019 to 2025 so far, with 88.
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