School year (2025/26)
Start of term: 3 September 2025
Half term holiday: 27 October 2025 - 31 October 2025
Christmas holiday: 22 December 2025 - 2 January 2026
Half term holiday: 16 February 2026 - 20 February 2026
Easter holiday: 30 March 2026 - 10 April 2026
Half term holiday: 25 May 2026 – 29 May 2026
Summer holiday: 24 July 2026 - 31 August 2026
Printable version of school term dates 2025/26 (PDF 33KB)
School year (2026/27)
Start of term: 1 September 2026
Half term holiday: 26 October 2026 - 30 October 2026
Christmas holiday: 21 December 2026 - 1 January 2027
Half term holiday: 15 February 2027 - 19 February 2027
Easter holiday: 26 March 2027 - 9 April 2027
Half term holiday: 31 May 2027 – 4 June 2027
Summer holiday: 23 July 2027 - 31 August 2027
Printable version of school term dates 2026/27 (PDF 73KB)
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INSET days and occasional days
Community and voluntary-controlled schools must use the above term dates, adding 5 INSET days and 1 Occasional day where children don't need to go to school.
Academies, voluntary-aided, foundation and free schools aren't required to follow the above term dates.
Check with your school for their specific term dates.Opening a new win
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Future term dates will be published by 31 January each year.
How we set term dates
We set term dates to make sure children get the most out of their time at school. We set them based on 7 principles.
1. School and teacher representatives set an annual window of 196 days. Schools must divide the days between:
- 190 days pupil attendance
- 5 professional development days
- 1 day for occasional holiday
2. When 2 weeks are set they should include 3 weekends.
3. School terms should be in full weeks Monday to Friday. If this isn't possible, there should be at least 2 working days.
4. All half-terms must be full weeks.
5. The Christmas break should contain 2 full weeks where possible.
6. Holidays should be as close to neighbouring counties as possible.
7. The year 7 taster day for new secondary school pupils must be the second Thursday in July.