What the law says
It’s sometimes thought that parents/carers have the right to take children out of school for up to 10 days a year for holidays. This is a myth. There has never been a right to remove children from school for the purpose of a holiday.
Schools can only authorise a leave of absence if exceptional circumstances exist. Even then, schools may refuse to give permission if, for example, your child has a poor attendance record, or if the proposed leave of absence is at a particularly important time such as the run up to exams or start of a new school year.