Key Takeaways
- The next UK half term is in October 2026. Most English and Welsh councils take 26-30 October; Scotland generally breaks up earlier, commonly 12-16 October; Northern Ireland's break is much shorter, just 29-30 October, confirmed by the Department of Education.
- Half term is the least consistent date on the school calendar, because unlike Christmas or Easter it isn't anchored to anything fixed, and it happens three times a year, tripling the chances of families being out of sync.
- Scotland and Northern Ireland don't have a week-long half term at the end of May at all, only the bank holidays that fall in it, unlike England and Wales.
- Always confirm your own school's dates before booking leave or childcare, since council, academy and even in-service days can all shift half term in either direction.
You're trying to book leave, sort a holiday club place, or work out if a grandparent can help cover the week, and every site gives you a slightly different answer. That's not you missing something. Half term is genuinely the least standardised date on the UK school calendar.
The next one lands in October 2026. Most English and Welsh councils take Monday 26 to Friday 30 October, while Scotland generally breaks up earlier, commonly 12 to 16 October, though this shifts by council. Northern Ireland's break is shorter again, just 29 and 30 October. After that, February half term 2027 splits roughly evenly between two different weeks depending on where you live, and the summer half term in late May 2027 doesn't exist at all in Scotland or Northern Ireland, only in England and Wales.
This post covers all three half terms coming up in the 2026-27 school year, by nation, so you can see roughly where you sit before checking the one date that actually matters: your own school's.
When is October half term 2026?
The next UK half term is the October 2026 break, and it arrives at three different times depending on where you live. In England and Wales, most local authorities take Monday 26 to Friday 30 October. In England specifically, 139 of the 149 councils with published dates take that week - the exceptions include a handful such as Leicester and Leicestershire, which break up a week earlier, 19 to 23 October. Scotland typically breaks up two weeks before England, most commonly 12 to 16 October, and some Scottish councils extend this further with in-service days attached to either end. Northern Ireland's break is much shorter than either, just two days, Thursday 29 and Friday 30 October 2026, confirmed by the Department of Education.
The timing matters if you travel across borders: there is no overlap between England's and Scotland's October break. Scotland's finishes on the Friday before England's starts on the Monday, so a family split across the two nations is never actually off at the same time.
Academies in England can set their own date independently of their local authority, so a school a mile from the council-run primary down the road can break up on a different Friday entirely.
When are all the 2026-27 half terms, by nation?
| Half term | England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Autumn (Oct 2026) | Mon 26 - Fri 30 Oct, most councils | Mon 26 - Fri 30 Oct, every school, fixed by Welsh Government direction | Commonly Mon 12 - Fri 16 Oct, varies by council | Just 29-30 Oct, confirmed by the Department of Education |
| Spring (Feb 2027) | Either 8-12 Feb or 15-19 Feb, council dependent | Either 8-12 Feb or 15-19 Feb, council dependent | Ranges from a single day off to a two-week spread, council dependent | Typically just 11-12 Feb, two days |
| Summer (May/June 2027) | Mon 31 May - Fri 4 Jun, most councils | Mon 31 May - Fri 4 Jun, every school, fixed by Welsh Government direction | No week-long break; bank holidays only | No week-long break; bank holidays only |
Treat every cell above as a starting point, not a confirmation. Even within England, two neighbouring councils can land on different weeks, and an academy can differ from both.
When is February half term 2027?
There is no single date, because the spring half term is the one where the "roughly the middle of term" rule produces the widest spread.
- England and Wales. Most councils take either Monday 8 to Friday 12 February or Monday 15 to Friday 19 February 2027, split roughly evenly between the two weeks.
- Scotland. The widest variation of any half term, from a single day off in some council areas to a nearly two-week spread in others. Borders and Edinburgh take full weeks in different ones.
- Northern Ireland. Typically just two days, 11-12 February 2027, listed by the Department of Education as the mid-term break.
When is the May half term 2027?
In England and Wales, most schools take Monday 31 May to Friday 4 June 2027, which starts on the Spring Bank Holiday itself. Scotland and Northern Ireland do not have a week-long May half term at all - they close only for the bank holidays that fall that week, which is why the table above lists their cell as bank holidays rather than dates.
Why does half term vary more than any other school holiday?
Because nothing anchors it. Christmas falls on a fixed calendar date every year. Easter moves, but within a defined religious calendar that every nation's term-setters build around. Half term has neither: it's just "roughly the middle of the term," and each of the UK's 150-plus English local authorities, plus Wales, plus all 32 Scottish councils, plus Northern Ireland, decides what that means separately.
Scotland shows this most starkly within one country. In February 2027, Scottish Borders and Edinburgh both take a full week, but different weeks (8-12 February and 15-19 February respectively). Neighbouring Midlothian closes for a single day, Friday 12 February, and doesn't reopen until Monday 22. Four councils in the same small part of the country, three genuinely different patterns.
Northern Ireland shows a different version of the same instability: both of its half terms, October and February, are confirmed by the Department of Education as just two days each, not the full week England and Wales take. Two nations can use the word "half term" for genuinely different amounts of time off.
The summer half term makes the point even more clearly. England and Wales get a full week at the end of May. Scotland and Northern Ireland get bank holidays and nothing more. That isn't three different dates for the same event, it's two nations that don't structurally have this half term at all.
What should you check before booking half term leave or childcare?
Check your own school's confirmed dates before anything else, not the table above and not last year's dates. Half term is short enough, usually a week or less, that even a two or three day discrepancy between what you planned around and what your school actually does can wreck a childcare plan or a booked trip.
- Leave requests. Half term leave gets snapped up fast precisely because the dates are so inconsistent. Confirm your date, then request before a colleague with an earlier-breaking school books the same week.
- Holiday clubs. Clubs fill fastest for whichever week the majority of local schools are off. If your school's date is slightly off the local norm, either the club may not run that week, or it'll be less crowded, worth checking both ways.
- INSET days on either end. A single INSET day attached to a Friday or Monday can turn a five-day half term into a nine-day gap to cover. Check for these separately, since they're often confirmed later than the main term dates.
What happens when your childminder or co-parent's other children have a different half term?
This is where half term causes more friction than any other school date, because it happens three times a year and because a childminder or co-parent is rarely working from just one school's calendar.
A childminder covering four families across two councils may have children on holiday in the same week as others who are still in school. A co-parent whose children are at a Scottish school and an English one isn't managing one half term twice, they're managing two genuinely different breaks that might not overlap at all. Neither situation is unusual, and neither resolves itself by everyone assuming the other person has the same dates they do.
The fix isn't more effort, it's making sure everyone is looking at the same confirmed dates rather than their own version of them. That's a Shared Family Calendar problem more than a scheduling one: half term doesn't need managing so much as it needs to actually reach everyone who has to work around it.
Working out your own half term date is the easy part, especially with three of them a year to track. Getting each one in front of a childminder juggling other families, or a co-parent working from a different nation's calendar, is where it usually breaks down. Maxie's School Holidays feature turns your confirmed dates into calendar blocks everyone in the family can see, so nobody is planning around last year's half term by mistake. Try it free with no card required.
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Frequently asked questions
When is half term 2026 in the UK?
The next UK half term is the October 2026 break. Most English and Welsh councils take Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026. Scotland commonly breaks up earlier, Monday 12 to Friday 16 October, and Northern Ireland's break is just Thursday 29 and Friday 30 October 2026.
When is October half term 2026 in England?
Most English local authorities take Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026, though academies and some councils set their own date. Check gov.uk/school-term-holiday-dates for your postcode.
When is October half term 2026 in Scotland?
Most Scottish councils break up earlier than England, commonly Monday 12 to Friday 16 October 2026, though some councils extend this with in-service days either side. Each of Scotland's 32 councils sets its own dates, so check yours directly.
When is February half term 2027?
There is no single date. Many English and Welsh councils use either the week of 8-12 February or 15-19 February 2027. Scotland varies far more widely, from a single day off in some council areas to a nearly two-week spread in others. Northern Ireland's spring break is typically just two days, around 11-12 February 2027.
Is half term the same length everywhere in the UK?
No. England and Wales generally take a full week for each of the three half terms. Scotland's length varies by council, sometimes shrinking to a single in-service day. Northern Ireland's breaks are shorter still, just two days for both the October break (29-30 October 2026) and the February break (11-12 February 2027), confirmed by the Department of Education, and neither Scotland nor Northern Ireland has a week-long half term at the end of May, only the bank holidays that fall in that month.
Why do some Scottish councils barely have a February half term?
Scotland's 32 councils each set their own calendar independently, with no national template to follow. Some build a full week around in-service days, while others treat the break as a single day off attached to a bank holiday, so two neighbouring councils can end up with very different breaks in the same month.
How many half terms are there in a UK school year?
England and Wales have three: one in each of the autumn, spring and summer terms. Scotland and Northern Ireland effectively have two full ones, since neither nation runs a week-long half term at the end of May, taking only the bank holidays instead.
Can my child's academy have a different half term to the local council?
Yes. Academies and free schools in England can set their own term dates independently of the local authority, including moving half term by a few days in either direction from the council's published dates.
When is the summer half term in 2027?
In England and Wales, most schools take Monday 31 May to Friday 4 June 2027. Scotland and Northern Ireland do not have a week-long summer half term at all, closing only for the May bank holidays that fall in that period.