Holidays
Half term dates 2026-27, council by council
When is half term? Three times a year, and not on the same week everywhere: here are the dates each council set.
Half term is the one-week break in the middle of each of the three terms of the school year in England and Wales. In 2026-27 most English councils on this site have October half term 26 to 30 October 2026, February half term 15 to 19 February 2027 and May half term 31 May to 4 June 2027, the week of the late May bank holiday. The dates are set by each council for the schools it runs, so a minority of areas differ, sometimes by a whole week, and a few take two weeks in October. Scotland has no half term as such but an October holiday and a short February mid-term, both set by each council, and Northern Ireland closes for two days at Halloween and two in February. Pick your council in the finder below for your own dates and the number of days until they start.
Dates read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the dates are checked
The three half terms of 2026-27
The autumn term runs from early September to just before Christmas and is broken by October half term. The spring term, from January to Easter, has February half term. The summer term, from after Easter to late July, has May half term, which always contains the late May bank holiday. In England the three half terms of 2026-27 fall as follows for the councils we hold.
October half term 2026
95 English councils take 26 to 30 October 2026. The others: 19 to 30 October 2026 (Bromley, Isle of Wight, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Surrey); 19 to 23 October 2026 (Leicester, Leicestershire); 22 to 30 October 2026 (Swindon, Wiltshire); 23 to 30 October 2026 (Norfolk).
February half term 2027
102 councils take 15 to 19 February 2027. Others: 8 to 12 February 2027 (Hull, North Yorkshire, York).
May half term 2027
105 councils take 31 May to 4 June 2027, the week that starts with the late May bank holiday on 31 May.
Every council, October half term 2026
"Weekdays" counts Monday to Friday off school. A two-week October break shows 10. Each link opens the council page with both school years in full and the date we read the council's calendar.
Why some councils move half term
Most councils aim for terms of roughly equal length and a half term near the middle of each. When Easter is early, as in 2027 with Easter Sunday on 28 March, the spring term is short and the summer term long, and some councils move May half term or split the summer differently. In autumn the reasons are local: a council may follow a neighbour so that families with children on both sides of a boundary get the same week, or align with the dates of a large academy trust. A two-week October break has to be found somewhere in the 190 days: Surrey, which has one in 2026, takes the five days from the summer holiday, so its summer term runs to 28 July 2027, and goes back to one week in October 2027.
Half term in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Welsh councils publish half terms in the same pattern as England; in 2026-27 the ones on this site take October and May half term with most of England but February half term a week earlier, 8 to 12 February. Scottish councils do not use the words half term: the October holiday runs one or two weeks and often starts a week earlier than in England, and the February mid-term is a long weekend of two days around the middle of the month. Northern Ireland's common closure dates give two days at Halloween, 29 and 30 October 2026, and a two-day mid-term on 11 and 12 February 2027, around which each school can add its own days.
When a child has two calendars
Half term is where a family with children in two council areas, or two parents in different areas, sees its calendars come apart first. The comparison above counts, for the whole year, the weekdays when one area is off and the other in school, and lists each break side by side. Change the two councils to your own.
Before you book
Check three things. First, the council calendar on this site or on the council website. Second, whether your child's school is an academy or a voluntary aided school, which can choose other dates: its website will say. Third, the school's INSET days, which can add a day on either side. A holiday taken in term time without the head teacher's agreement is an unauthorised absence, and in England five days off reach the threshold at which a school must consider a penalty notice.