Back to school: navigating co-parenting disputes

18 Sept 2026|Opinion|Add your comment

By Allana Bennison, Abigail Clements-Bewley and Emily Otvos

The start of the school year can bring fresh challenges for separated parents, from child arrangements and school costs to unauthorised absences and penalty notices

Back-to-school can be stressful for children and parents alike. While children may feel nervous about new teachers, classes and friends, many parents face anxieties around child arrangements and school-associated costs. For separated parents, the need to co-parent, sometimes with a difficult ex-partner, can intensify these worries.

Mediate UK’s annual Back-to-School Co-Parenting Report for 2026/27 identifies common back-to-school challenges and offers practical solutions for parents, including resources that any professional working with parents should consider adding to their toolkit.

So, what can we, as family practitioners, learn from the report, and how can we apply it to the advice we offer to separated parents?

Common Disputes

It will come as no surprise to many family practitioners that the most common disputes between separated parents are:

Term-time arrangements and handovers (41%)
School pick-ups, drop-offs and travel logistics (25%)
School costs, including uniform and equipment (23%)
After-school clubs and wraparound care (15%)
Homework routines and communication between homes (13%)

Some clients may initially present with what they perceive to be the key issue in their case, but further exploration often reveals a considerably broader dispute. Others may seek advice on every possible future scenario, irrespective of how likely those scenarios are to occur. Being aware of the most common disputes can assist during initial client meetings to streamline the process of taking instructions and managing expectations.

Changes in Education

It is helpful for all practitioners to be alert to changes affecting schools in order to provide holistic and practical advice to clients which is rooted in their day-to-day experiences.

Chapter 3 of the Report sets out three key changes for 2026/27:

From 1 September 2026, state-funded schools in England must limit the number of compulsory branded items of uniform and PE kit to three or fewer (or four, if one is a tie).
Where a primary school takes part in the government's free breakfast club programme, it must offer a free 30-minute club immediately before the school day, open to all pupils.
Penalty notices for unauthorised absence in England are issued per parent, per child. If one parent takes the children away in term-time without authorisation, the local authority can fine both parents, regardless of whether the other parent agreed to the trip.

The first two changes will be welcomed by many parents. Branded school uniforms and wraparound care can quickly add up. When parents are separated, determining who should meet which costs can be a significant source of conflict.

Penalty Notices

The third update may come as an unwelcome surprise to parents, and perhaps practitioners.

In England, there is a national threshold of 10 sessions (equivalent to 5 school days) of unauthorised absence. Once this threshold has been met, schools must consider issuing a penalty notice.

A first notice is £160 per parent, per child, or £80 per parent, per child if paid within 21 days.
A second notice for the same child within three years is £160, with no reduced rate.
After two notices in three years the local authority may prosecute. A court can impose a fine of up to £2,500, a community order, imprisonment for up to three months, and/or a parenting order.

Separated parents may be especially concerned by the ‘per parent, per child’ rule. Practitioners are likely to be faced with the following question: What can I do if I have been issued with a penalty notice, but I did not agree to, or could not prevent, my ex-partner taking our child out of school without authorisation?

Whilst there is no statutory right of appeal by parents against a penalty notice, a notice can be withdrawn by the local authority if it determines it ought not to have been issued, either at all or to a specific person. Parents wishing to challenge a penalty notice should be advised to write immediately to the headteacher, explaining the circumstances. If this fails, the parent can escalate the matter to the local authority.

Practitioners should be mindful of the relevant Local Code of Conduct in relation to penalty notices that each local authority is required to publish. Parents should consider providing evidence that shows they were not responsible for the child’s non-attendance, such as correspondence with the other parent in which they objected to the child being taken on holiday during term-time.

If there is a Child Arrangements Order in place allowing the other parent to remove the child from the jurisdiction without the client’s consent, the client may wish to disclose this to the school or local authority and clear advice should be given as to whether disclosure is permitted, subject to the terms of the order.

Legal News desk contact: editorial@solicitorsjournal.com|

So, what can we, as family practitioners, learn from the report, and how can we apply it to the advice we offer to separated parents?

Common Disputes

It will come as no surprise to many family practitioners that the most common disputes between separated parents are:

Term-time arrangements and handovers (41%)
School pick-ups, drop-offs and travel logistics (25%)
School costs, including uniform and equipment (23%)
After-school clubs and wraparound care (15%)
Homework routines and communication between homes (13%)

Changes in Education

It is helpful for all practitioners to be alert to changes affecting schools in order to provide holistic and practical advice to clients which is rooted in their day-to-day experiences.

Chapter 3 of the Report sets out three key changes for 2026/27:

From 1 September 2026, state-funded schools in England must limit the number of compulsory branded items of uniform and PE kit to three or fewer (or four, if one is a tie).
Where a primary school takes part in the government's free breakfast club programme, it must offer a free 30-minute club immediately before the school day, open to all pupils.
Penalty notices for unauthorised absence in England are issued per parent, per child. If one parent takes the children away in term-time without authorisation, the local authority can fine both parents, regardless of whether the other parent agreed to the trip.

Back to school: navigating co-parenting disputes

Comments

FCA cracks down on illegal crypto trading

Advanced inheritance secures paragon bank funding

All charities must understand new accounting rules

High-rise boom in Manchester shapes lawyers

CMA Chair Doug Gurr’s vision revealed

New rules on litigation funding needed

Hancox v Sutherland: EAT sets out rules for AI use in tribunal litigation

Intralinks v Nexans: Commercial Court rejects challenge to English jurisdiction

Re C: High Court orders second Hague Convention return to Portugal

Parkinson v Home Office: tribunal departs from earlier deportation ruling

Damien Burke v The Harrow Club: EAT upholds dismissal over unauthorised first aid

Forthwell v Pontegadea: Supreme Court rejects transferred loss claim over Rogano closure

SJ Interview: Thom Brooks

Looking beyond the label