UK school term dates 2026 to 2027: A parent's guide for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

There is no single UK school calendar. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each set their own term dates, and within England and Scotland, individual councils and schools add their own variations. This guide pulls together the standard 2026 to 2027 term windows for each country, based on published local authority calendars and Welsh Government approvals.

A reminder up front: These are representative dates. Academies, foundation schools, voluntary-aided schools and independent schools can set their own, and even within a single council some schools use INSET (in-service training) days slightly differently. Always double-check your school's published calendar before booking anything expensive. For half-term windows specifically we've split those out into a separate guide.

190 – Minimum school days per year. State schools in England, Wales and Scotland must open for at least 190 pupil days across the academic year, with 5 additional staff training (INSET) days on top in England. Northern Ireland's minimum is higher (typically 200 days).

Each country section has a table showing autumn, spring and summer term windows plus half-term breaks. Dates are for pupils, not staff, and represent the standard local authority calendar or a large representative council. INSET days sit within these windows and vary by school, so pupils' first day back may be a day or two later than the official term start. Good Friday falls on 26 March 2027 and Easter Monday on 29 March 2027; most schools time Easter breaks around these dates.

In England, term dates are set by each local authority for the community and voluntary-controlled schools it maintains. The pattern is broadly consistent: A short autumn term to Christmas with a half-term in late October, a spring term with a February half-term, and a longer summer term with a late May / early June half-term.

Roughly six in ten councils use the exact dates in the table below. London boroughs, parts of the south west and a small number of others start pupils one or two days later, but term-end dates and half-terms line up closely.

A few English variations. London boroughs are split between Tuesday 1 September and Wednesday 2 September for the autumn return. Hackney's spring term ends on Thursday 25 March 2027 and summer starts on Monday 12 April 2027, typical for the boroughs that return on 2 September. Councils that push their autumn start into the second week of September, notably East Riding of Yorkshire and York, tend to compensate with slightly different half-term or summer end dates. If you're new to the London calendar, our when-do-kids-go-back-to-school guide has the borough-by-borough breakdown.

Wales is the tidiest part of the UK for this. The Welsh Government publishes approved school term dates that apply across the country, and 21 of 22 local authorities follow the standard calendar for 2026 to 2027. Powys is the only exception, ending autumn term on Tuesday 22 December 2026 and summer term on Friday 16 July 2027.

One quirk of the Welsh calendar: Summer term includes Good Friday and Easter Monday within it, rather than the Easter break falling at the very start. Spring term ends a little earlier and summer term starts a little earlier than the English pattern, with a similar total number of school days.

Scottish schools return in mid-August, several weeks earlier than the rest of the UK, and finish for summer in late June or early July. All 32 councils set their own dates, so there is no single Scottish calendar. Edinburgh's published dates below are a representative example; Glasgow, East Lothian, Fife and other central-belt councils follow a similar shape, though specific in-service days and mid-term breaks can shift.

Two features of the Scottish calendar. The October Week (a full week in mid-October) is standard across most councils, unlike the shorter half-term used in England and Wales. And Scottish schools generally have a shorter summer holiday, typically around six weeks compared to England's six to seven, because the term starts back in mid-August.

The Education Authority (EA) in Northern Ireland publishes recommended holiday dates each year, and most schools follow them, though individual boards of governors can vary. Schools broadly return in the first week of September and finish for summer at the end of June, similar to England and Wales but with more variation between individual schools. The table below shows a representative pattern for grammar and post-primary schools; grammar schools in particular often stagger year groups over the first few days of September.

A note on the February half-term in Northern Ireland: It is often just two days rather than a full week. The Halloween break can be a full week or a shorter Thursday-Friday break depending on the school. Always check your child's calendar.

Three reliable sources, in order. First, your child's school website. Most schools publish a full academic year calendar under a term dates or calendar tab. This is the most accurate source because it includes the school's specific INSET days.

Second, your local council or authority. In England, Wales and Scotland, councils publish standard term dates; in Northern Ireland, the EA site is the equivalent.

Third, the gov.uk term dates tool. This is only for England and Wales, and it matches your postcode to your council. Useful as a starting point, not a substitute for the school's own page.

INSET days are a common source of confusion. In England, every state school includes five INSET days within the 195-day academic year, and pupils do not attend on those days. They tend to cluster at the start of terms and after half-terms, which is why the first day of autumn term is often a Monday for staff but a Wednesday for pupils.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland use broadly similar in-service arrangements. Exact days vary by school, which is why the tables above focus on term-window starts and ends rather than individual pupil-attendance days. Schools occasionally also have stagger days, where a single year group comes in on its own for a settling-in session, most commonly in the first week of September for new starters.

The bank holidays that fall within the school year are New Year's Day (Friday 1 January 2027), Good Friday (Friday 26 March 2027), Easter Monday (Monday 29 March 2027), the early May bank holiday (Monday 3 May 2027) and the spring bank holiday (Monday 31 May 2027, usually falling in half-term week). These are the fixed points that anchor each term. If you have a Year 11 in the house, our guide to when GCSE exams start in 2027 sits alongside this calendar, and Cognito's GCSE courses can help fill the half-term gaps with self-paced revision. For families with a Year 12 or 13, our A-Level course library is the equivalent starting point.