How to Skip School

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: March 11, 2023 References

School can be the worst, and sometimes you just need a day to yourself. A little creative thinking is all you need to get out of your classes and enjoy a day of relaxing free time. Here are some methods you can use to skip school and make your absence believable.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Faking Sickness

1
Set the scene. If you are going to pretend to be sick, tell your parents that you don't feel well a couple of days beforehand. Your "sickness" will be more believable if your parents see some symptoms before the actual day that you pretend to be ill.
- To fake a stomach ache, tell your parents that you may have eaten something bad at school.
- To fake a cold, say that your throat has been feeling a little scratchy.^{[1]
  X
  Research source}
- Get started the night before by waking up and telling your parents that you’re feeling sick. Either mimic your symptoms from before, or just say, “I feel like I’m getting sick."
2
Wake up "sick". Get up a little later than you should. Tell your parents you’re not feeling so great. Walk around slowly, like your muscles are achy, and don’t fix your messy, sleepyhead hair.
- Don't eat too much breakfast. Sick people often lose their appetites, so this will help with the illusion.^{[2]
  X
  Research source}
- If you’re faking cold/flu symptoms, cough and sneeze and say you’re feeling dizzy.
- If you’ve been faking stomach symptoms, rub your stomach and moan that it hurts.
Advertisement
3
Fake a fever. Your parents will probably want to check if you have a fever or not, since a fever can be the sign of true illness. To convince them you’re really sick, you’ll need to make them believe you have a temperature.
- Soak a towel in hot water, wring it out, then place it against your forehead for 1 minute. This will heat up your head and body and make your fever more believable.
- Boil some water in a kettle, then pour it into a bowl. Lean over the bowl until your skin feels flushed, then step away. This will make you feel clammy.
- Rub a thermometer between your hands until it reaches 99–101 °F (37–38 °C). Don't go higher, however, or you might risk a trip to the hospital.^{[3]
  X
  Research source}
4
Put on a brave face at first, then give in. If your parents ask if you want to stay home, don't say yes immediately. You need to act like missing school is a really hard decision to make. This will make it seem like you really want to make the effort to go to school but can't.
- Think about it for a minute or two and say something like, "But I want to go to PE." Then tell them, "On second thought, I'm not sure I can make it all day at school."
- If you make it seem outright like you don't want to go because you hate school, your illness won't seem believable.
5
Keep up the act to make it believable. Act really sick all morning, then slowly pretend that you’re feeling a little better throughout the day. The next morning, act like you still don’t feel your best, but are just strong enough to go to school.
- Even though you have a day to yourself, you’ll still have to pretend to be sick all day long, at least while your parents are still around.
- If you suddenly get better the next day, your parents may catch onto your lie and get mad. They may not fall for it the next time.

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Sneaking Away from School

1
Know the risks. Many schools have monitors, cameras, security guards, janitors and teachers on the lookout for people leaving school.^{[4]
X
Research source} You may have to take some big risks if you decide to skip school this way.
- Read up on your school’s rules before your bunk off day, and be ready for the consequences if you get caught.
2
Leave school at the right moment. If you want to leave the premises for the day, you need to slip away when you are least likely to be noticed. This is best done usually when there are lots of people around.
- Leaving at the very beginning of the day will probably get you noticed, since most kids are going into the school and not away from it.
- Go to your first class so you can at least be seen, then slip away in between classes. You can also do this between afternoon classes, or around lunchtime.
3
Keep an eye on the time. You don’t want to alert your teachers and parents that you haven’t been in class by being late coming back. While you’re out and about, check the time every so often to see how much free time you have left.
- Give yourself enough time to change back into your school clothes (if you’ve changed out of them) and be back on school grounds by the time the last bell rings.
- Show up on time for the bus or for when your parents pick you up. This will make it seem as though you were at school all day.
- If someone sees you and asks where you’ve been, say that you've been in the bathroom sick or at an appointment. Make sure your parents don't hear from a teacher that you weren’t in class.

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Making Excuses

1
Pretend not to finish your homework. In the morning, make a big deal about not completing a really important assignment - act panicked, pretend to cry, and furiously try to finish your work. If your parents see you so upset, they might take pity on you and let you stay at home to finish your homework.^{[5]
X
Research source}
- This won’t work with every parent. Some parents will send you to school so that you can learn a valuable lesson about finishing your work on time.
2
Miss your bus. If your parents expect you to get to the bus stop by yourself, simply missing your bus will guarantee you a day off. Walk slowly to the bus stop or leave the house too late. Run behind the bus, then act sad that you missed it.
- Find some place hide so that you don't get caught by your parents, or head home and tell your parents that you missed your bus.
- If your parents are strict, you might want to wait until they've left for work before heading home; otherwise, they may drive you to school!
- Know your risks! If your neighbour sees that you missed the bus, they may tell your parents.
3
Change your parents' alarm while they're sleeping. You can move it forward as far ahead as 1 or 2 hours, to as little as 30 minutes. When the alarm rings, your parents will panic about being late and (probably) won’t have time to take you to school.
- For example, if the alarm is supposed to go off at 6am, change it to go off at 7 or 8am.
- If one parent sets the alarm, you’ll only have to change one alarm. However, if there are multiple alarms, you’ll have to change them all. Do this at your own risk.
- Be considerate of your parent's work. If you make them extremely late, they could get in trouble.

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Making it Believable

1
Fake a note from your parents. When you’ve skipped a day at school, your school will want to know where you’ve been. Write a pretend note from your parents to explain why you were absent.
- You can choose any excuse that sounds real, like you had to go to a funeral, had a dentist appointment, or that a pet died.
- Type the note instead of writing it by hand. Your handwriting probably doesn’t look like an adult’s handwriting to a teacher, so it won’t be convincing. Typing the note is safer, and it will also look more official.
2
Talk about your fake missed day where teachers can hear you. Make up really good details about the day you had when you were out of school - what happened, who you saw, how you felt. Then, use those details to have a conversation with your friends in earshot of a teacher.
- Say things about how sad it was to see so many crying people at a funeral, or how long and annoying it was to wait at the dentist before you got seen to.
3
Ask to make up for the work that you missed. Most teachers know that kids skip school to get out of doing work, so your teachers will never guess that you skipped if you ask for catch up work the next again day. This will also make you appear to be a responsible student.
- To make it even more believable, act like you really want to do the work, even if you don’t.

Warnings

These tips will generally not work if you are home-schooled.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 638 Not Helpful 104
If you make a habit of skipping school, you might be expelled. Therefore, it's best that you don't skip school unless you're desperate for a day off.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 420 Not Helpful 74
If you are being bullied or have a similar issue in school, skipping will not eliminate the problem. Tell a trusted adult immediately if this is happening to you.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 422 Not Helpful 90
If you are younger than 13, do not ever go out into the world alone.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 316 Not Helpful 137
If you get caught, don't lie. Don't try to make excuses, as your parents won't be in the mood for them. Just give a sincere apology.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 51 Not Helpful 17
Do not overdo it. Just say you don’t feel well. If your parents think you are actually sick, you may have to take medicine, which is bad.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 2 Not Helpful 1
Skipping or missing school is called “truancy.” If you are consistently truant, you and your parents could face legal consequences.^{[6]
X
Research source}

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 3 Not Helpful 1