UK School Holidays 2026

England — typical 2025/26 holiday windows

The 2025/26 academic year in England runs from early September 2025 to late July 2026 across three terms (Autumn, Spring, Summer), each split by a half-term break.

The actual start and end dates of summer and Christmas breaks differ by up to a week between Local Authorities — London boroughs and the South-East often finish a few days earlier than the Midlands or the North.

Wales — typical 2025/26 holiday windows

Welsh local authorities follow a calendar broadly aligned with England, but with a few well-known differences: the autumn half-term is regularly designated as 27 Oct – 31 Oct 2026 (one week), and the dates of the summer break may run a day or two earlier than English schools in some councils. Welsh-medium schools and English-medium schools within the same authority share the same calendar.

• February half-term: 16 – 20 Feb 2026 (one week).
• Easter: 30 Mar – 10 Apr 2026 (typical two-week pattern).
• May half-term: 25 – 29 May 2026 (one week including the spring bank holiday).
• Summer: from approximately 20 Jul to early Sep 2026.
• October half-term: 26 – 30 Oct 2026.
• Christmas: 21 Dec 2026 – 1 Jan 2027.

Confirm exact dates at your council's website or via the gov.wales school term dates page.

Scotland — different rhythm, earlier summer

Scottish term dates are set by each of the 32 local councils and follow a noticeably different calendar from England and Wales. Two structural differences matter most for parents:

• Summer starts earlier and is shorter. Most Scottish councils break up in the final week of June 2026 and return in mid-August (around 13-18 Aug 2026). That gives roughly six and a half weeks off — broadly the same total as England but offset by a fortnight.
• October half-term is one week, not two. Many Scottish councils close for a single week in October (commonly 13-17 Oct 2026), whereas English schools take the week of 26-30 Oct. A handful of Scottish councils extend to a fortnight ("tattie holidays"), so check locally.
• Easter pattern varies. Some councils put the full break before Easter Sunday, others after; a few split the break either side. There is no single national pattern.
• February break differs. Many Scottish councils take a long weekend or two-day mid-term break in mid-February rather than a full week, and a separate "in-service" closure.

The Scottish Government maintains the canonical list at gov.scot — school term dates; check your council site for exact dates, particularly if you are coordinating travel with relatives elsewhere in the UK.

Northern Ireland — longer summer, different Easter

Schools in Northern Ireland are managed by the Education Authority. Term dates broadly resemble England but typically include:

• A slightly longer summer holiday (often the first week of July to the third week of August 2026).
• A shorter Easter break of about 10 days centred on Easter Sunday.
• A two-day October half-term plus two staff training days, rather than a full week.
• Some schools observe St Patrick's Day (17 March) as a closure even though it is not a UK-wide bank holiday for England, Wales or Scotland.

Refer to the Education Authority NI — term dates page for confirmed dates by school type.

School holidays 2026 council by council — confirmed dates for the biggest councils

The windows above show the typical national pattern, but every council publishes exact, confirmed dates. The table below gives the officially published 2026 dates for eight of the UK's largest local authorities, taken directly from each council's own term-dates page (checked 10 June 2026). Every English council listed goes back for the 2026/27 year on Tuesday 1 September 2026 (Monday 31 August 2026 is the August bank holiday), while Glasgow and Edinburgh pupils return on Wednesday 12 August 2026.

All eight councils above end the autumn term on Friday 18 December 2026 for the Christmas break. Dates apply to maintained community schools in each authority — academies, foundation, voluntary-aided, faith and independent schools can set their own calendars, and Scottish councils add in-service days around these dates (for example Glasgow's Friday 9 October 2026). For any council not listed here, use the official lookups in the "How to confirm your school's exact dates" section below.

INSET days and staff in-service training

Each maintained school in England and Wales must take five INSET days per academic year when teachers attend training and pupils are off. Scottish schools have an equivalent number of "in-service days" (typically five). Northern Irish schools commonly take three to five "school development days" and "exceptional closure days". INSET and in-service dates are not standardised across schools — even neighbouring schools within the same Local Authority frequently differ — so always check the term calendar your school publishes annually.

INSET days are usually placed adjacent to a half-term, Easter or summer break to extend the holiday by a day; some schools instead bank them mid-term. Either way they generate a working day that may need childcare cover and are easy to miss if you only look at the standard term-time dates.

Planning ahead — what parents typically book

• Summer holiday clubs and play schemes open booking in March–May. Wraparound and full-day holiday clubs typically charge £25–£55 per day; eligible families can use Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit childcare element.
• Half-term camps and activity weeks for the May and October half-terms are best booked 6–10 weeks ahead, especially for sports clubs and theatre weeks.
• Term-time leave in England requires headteacher authorisation and is only granted in exceptional circumstances; an unauthorised holiday can attract a fixed-penalty notice of £80 per parent per child (rising to £160 if unpaid in 21 days). Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have similar but locally administered systems.
• Christmas travel tends to be cheapest in the last working week of November and the first week of January, then spikes around 21-30 December.
• Easter flights in 2026 peak around 27 March – 5 April (Easter Sunday). Pricing on the same routes can be 40-70% higher than the surrounding fortnights.

Costs to model alongside the calendar

Use these calculators to estimate the financial side of the school year:

• Childcare cost calculator — budget holiday clubs and term-time wraparound, with the Tax-Free Childcare 20% top-up included.
• Maternity pay calculator — useful for families planning around new arrivals across the academic year.
• Bank holiday pay rights 2026 — understand pay when half-term overlaps the May Day or spring bank holidays.
• Tax-free childcare calculator — model the £2,000 / child / year government top-up against your spend.
• Free childcare hours calculator — check entitlement to 15 or 30 hours funded childcare for working parents.

How to confirm your school's exact dates

1. Open gov.uk/school-term-holiday-dates and enter your postcode (England). The tool routes you to the correct Local Authority page.
2. For Wales: gov.wales/school-term-dates lists each of the 22 unitary authorities.
3. For Scotland: gov.scot — school term dates links each of the 32 councils' calendars.
4. For Northern Ireland: eani.org.uk/parents/term-dates publishes confirmed dates per school type.
5. Then cross-check with your school's own annual calendar (usually a PDF on the school website) for INSET days and any locally exceptional closures.

Academies, free schools, faith schools and independents are not required to follow the Local Authority calendar. Check the school's published dates directly if your child does not attend a maintained state school.