Holidays
October half term 2026: when it is in your area
Autumn half term splits the longest term of the year. Most of England takes the same week; a few councils take two.
October half term 2026 is 26 to 30 October 2026 for 95 of the 105 English council calendars on this site, so pupils finish on Friday 23 October and return on Monday 2 November. Bromley, Isle of Wight, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Surrey have a two-week break, 19 to 30 October 2026. The autumn term is the longest of the year, close to fifteen weeks from early September to the Christmas holidays, and the October break is the only pause in it. Scottish councils call it the October holiday and set it themselves, often one or two weeks from mid-October. Northern Ireland closes on 29 and 30 October for Halloween. Academies can choose other weeks, and many schools add an INSET day to one end of the break. Use the finder below for your council's exact dates and the days left until they start.
Dates read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the dates are checked
The week most of England takes
26 to 30 October 2026 is the October half term of Barnet, Barnsley, Bedford, Birmingham, Bolton, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Bradford, Brent, Brighton and Hove, Bristol, Buckinghamshire, Calderdale, Cambridgeshire, Central Bedfordshire, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Cornwall, County Durham, Coventry, Croydon, Cumberland, Derby, Derbyshire, Devon, Doncaster, Dorset, Dudley, Ealing, East Sussex, Enfield, Essex, Gloucestershire, Haringey, Hertfordshire, Hillingdon, Hull, Kent, Kirklees, Lambeth, Lancashire, Leeds, Lewisham, Lincolnshire, Liverpool, Luton, Manchester, Medway, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Newham, North Northamptonshire, North Yorkshire, Northumberland, Oldham, Oxfordshire, Peterborough, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Reading, Redbridge, Rochdale, Rotherham, Royal Greenwich, Salford, Sandwell, Sefton, Sheffield, Shropshire, Solihull, Somerset, Southampton, Southend-on-Sea, Southwark, Staffordshire, Stockport, Stoke-on-Trent, Suffolk, Telford and Wrekin, Thurrock, Tower Hamlets, Trafford, Wakefield, Walsall, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Warwickshire, West Northamptonshire, West Sussex, Westmorland and Furness, Wigan, Wirral, Wokingham, Wolverhampton, Worcestershire, York. Each council fixed the week when it published its 2026-27 calendar. It follows a simple logic: the autumn term starts in the first week of September, and the eighth week after that is half term.
The councils that chose differently: 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.
All councils, October 2026
One week or two
A longer October break has been discussed for years because the autumn term is long and ends in the dark. The catch is arithmetic. A school year in England needs at least 380 sessions, 190 days, and a council cannot simply add five days of holiday: it has to take them from another break, nearly always the summer. Surrey, which has a two-week October half term in 2026, keeps its summer term open until 28 July 2027 and returns to a single week in October 2027. A family with children in Surrey and in a neighbouring county will therefore have one week in common in October 2026 and one week where only the Surrey child is off.
Scotland: the October holiday
Scottish schools go back in mid-August, so their autumn term reaches its middle sooner. Councils set an October holiday of one or two weeks, frequently starting around the second or third Monday of October, and many put in-service days next to it. Because every Scottish council fixes its own in-service days, the first day back is not the same across the central belt. The Scotland page lines the councils up.
Northern Ireland: two days at Halloween
The common closure dates agreed by all school sectors give Thursday 29 and Friday 30 October 2026. Many schools add development days to make a longer break, and each school announces them itself. School transport and meals are not provided on the common closure days.
October half term 2027
Of the councils that have published 2027-28, 91 take 25 to 29 October 2027. Bromley, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire: 18 to 29 October 2027; Swindon, Wiltshire: 21 to 29 October 2027; Leicester: 18 to 22 October 2027; Southend-on-Sea: 22 to 29 October 2027. Councils that have not published will normally do so before the end of the current school year.
Planning around the week
The prices of family holidays rise for half term, which is why some parents look at the days either side. The Monday or Friday next to a half term is the day schools most often use as an INSET day, so check the school's own list before assuming it is a school day. Taking a child out on a day that is not INSET is an unauthorised absence; in England the threshold for a penalty notice is ten sessions, five days, within ten school weeks; a whole extra week reaches it on its own. Childcare clubs usually take bookings for half term from early September: the dates on your council page are the ones they plan on.