When Do Schools Break Up?

England and Wales

When do schools break up for Christmas 2026?

In most council areas, schools break up on Friday 18 December 2026 and go back on Monday 4 January 2027. That's 158 of the 171 councils in England and Wales we cover; the rest are listed below.

Check your school's dates. These are councils' dates for community and voluntary controlled schools. Academies, free schools and some church schools set their own, so check your school's website. INSET days are set by each school.

Christmas holidays, 2026/27 school year

171 councils, grouped by their dates
Breaks upBackCouncils
Fri 18 Dec 2026Mon 4 Jan 2027
158 councils: show the listBarking and Dagenham, Barnsley, Bath and North East Somerset, Bedford, Bexley, Birmingham, Blackburn with Darwen, Blaenau Gwent, Bolton, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Bracknell Forest, Bradford, Brent, Bridgend, Brighton and Hove, Bristol, Bromley, Buckinghamshire, Bury, Caerphilly, Calderdale, Cambridgeshire, Camden, Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Conwy, Cornwall, County Durham, Coventry, Croydon, Darlington, Denbighshire, Derby, Derbyshire, Devon, Doncaster, Dorset, Dudley, Ealing, East Riding of Yorkshire, East Sussex, Enfield, Essex, Flintshire, Gateshead, Gloucestershire, Greenwich, Gwynedd, Hackney, Halton, Hammersmith and Fulham, Hampshire, Haringey, Harrow, Hartlepool, Havering, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Hull, Isle of Anglesey, Isle of Wight, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kent, Kingston upon Thames, Kirklees, Knowsley, Lambeth, Lancashire, Leeds, Leicester, Leicestershire, Lewisham, Liverpool, Luton, Manchester, Medway, Merthyr Tydfil, Merton, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Monmouthshire, Neath Port Talbot, Newcastle upon Tyne, Newham, Newport, North Northamptonshire, North Somerset, North Tyneside, Northumberland, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Oldham, Oxfordshire, Pembrokeshire, Peterborough, Portsmouth, Reading, Redbridge, Redcar and Cleveland, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Richmond upon Thames, Rochdale, Rotherham, Rutland, Salford, Sandwell, Sefton, Sheffield, Shropshire, Slough, Solihull, Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Southampton, Southend-on-Sea, Southwark, St. Helens, Staffordshire, Stockport, Stockton-on-Tees, Stoke-on-Trent, Suffolk, Sunderland, Surrey, Sutton, Swansea, Swindon, Tameside, Telford and Wrekin, Thurrock, Torbay, Torfaen, Tower Hamlets, Trafford, Vale of Glamorgan, Wakefield, Walsall, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Warrington, West Berkshire, West Northamptonshire, West Sussex, Westminster, Wiltshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wirral, Wokingham, Wolverhampton, Worcestershire, Wrexham, York
Fri 18 Dec 2026Tue 5 Jan 202712 Barnet, Central Bedfordshire, Cumberland, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, Plymouth, Warwickshire, Westmorland and Furness, Wigan
Tue 22 Dec 2026Tue 5 Jan 20271 Powys

Christmas holidays, 2027/28 school year

161 councils, grouped by their dates
Breaks upBackCouncils
Fri 17 Dec 2027Tue 4 Jan 2028
133 councils: show the listBarking and Dagenham, Barnet, Barnsley, Bath and North East Somerset, Bedford, Bexley, Birmingham, Blaenau Gwent, Bolton, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Bracknell Forest, Bradford, Brent, Bridgend, Brighton and Hove, Bristol, Bromley, Buckinghamshire, Bury, Cambridgeshire, Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Central Bedfordshire, Ceredigion, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, County Durham, Coventry, Croydon, Darlington, Doncaster, Dorset, Dudley, Ealing, East Sussex, Enfield, Essex, Gateshead, Gloucestershire, Greenwich, Halton, Hammersmith and Fulham, Hampshire, Haringey, Harrow, Hartlepool, Havering, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Isle of Wight, Islington, Kent, Kingston upon Thames, Kirklees, Knowsley, Lambeth, Lancashire, Leeds, Leicester, Leicestershire, Lewisham, Liverpool, Luton, Manchester, Medway, Merthyr Tydfil, Merton, Milton Keynes, Monmouthshire, Neath Port Talbot, Newcastle upon Tyne, Newham, Newport, North Northamptonshire, North Somerset, North Tyneside, Northumberland, Oldham, Pembrokeshire, Peterborough, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Reading, Redbridge, Redcar and Cleveland, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Richmond upon Thames, Rochdale, Rotherham, Rutland, Salford, Sandwell, Sefton, Sheffield, Shropshire, Slough, Solihull, Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Southend-on-Sea, Southwark, St. Helens, Staffordshire, Stockport, Stockton-on-Tees, Stoke-on-Trent, Suffolk, Sunderland, Sutton, Swindon, Tameside, Telford and Wrekin, Thurrock, Torfaen, Tower Hamlets, Trafford, Vale of Glamorgan, Wakefield, Walsall, Wandsworth, Warrington, West Berkshire, West Northamptonshire, West Sussex, Wigan, Wiltshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wirral, Wokingham, Wolverhampton, Worcestershire
Fri 17 Dec 2027Wed 5 Jan 202812 Calderdale, Cumberland, East Riding of Yorkshire, Hull, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, Torbay, Westmorland and Furness, York
Wed 22 Dec 2027Thu 6 Jan 202810 Conwy, Cornwall, Denbighshire, Derby, Derbyshire, Devon, Flintshire, Gwynedd, Isle of Anglesey, Wrexham
Tue 21 Dec 2027Tue 4 Jan 20283 Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Surrey
Fri 17 Dec 2027Thu 6 Jan 20281 Warwickshire
Fri 17 Dec 2027Fri 7 Jan 20281 Powys
Tue 21 Dec 2027Wed 5 Jan 20281 Oxfordshire

Other school holidays