Copley Primary School playground by Humphrey Bolton (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons.
School Term Dates and the School Year in England Explained
School term dates in England are not set by the government, and they are not set by one body. They are set by whoever employs the staff at that particular school, which is why two schools on the same street can break up for half term a week apart and why a family with a child at a primary and a child at a secondary academy can end up with two different calendars to juggle.
This page explains the structure of the English school year, who decides the dates, where the 190 day figure comes from, why there are five INSET days, and how to find the dates that actually apply to your child. It covers England; Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own systems.
The shape of the year
English schools run a three term year: autumn, spring and summer. Each term is split by a half term break of a week, and the terms are separated by the Christmas and Easter holidays, with a long summer break of around six weeks. Autumn term usually opens in the first week of September and closes just before Christmas. Spring term runs from early January to just before Easter. Summer term runs from after Easter to mid or late July.
Easter is the reason the pattern shifts about. It is a moveable feast, so in a year when Easter falls late the spring term is long and the summer term is short, and in a year when it falls early the reverse happens. Some councils and trusts have moved to a fixed spring break that no longer tracks Easter at all, which is one more reason not to assume.
Where 190 days comes from
Regulation 3 of the Education (School Day and School Year) (England) Regulations 1999 requires local authority maintained schools in England to open for at least 380 sessions in a school year. A session is a morning or an afternoon, so 380 sessions is 190 days. That is a floor, not a target: a school can open for more.
The figure does not apply to academies or free schools, which are governed by their funding agreements rather than those regulations. In practice almost every academy runs something close to 190 days, because it employs teachers on the same terms as everyone else and because parents notice.
And where the five INSET days come from
This is the bit that confuses people. Under the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document, a full-time teacher must be available for work on 195 days in a school year, and on a maximum of 190 of those days may be required to teach pupils. The five-day gap is the training day allowance, directed within an annual maximum of 1,265 hours of directed time.
So the five INSET days are not an extra holiday bolted onto the year. They are the difference between the days the teacher works and the days the children attend, and they come out of the same 195. Schools place them where they choose, which is why one school takes all five as separate Fridays and another bolts two onto the start of September.
The government also expects mainstream state-funded schools to deliver a school week of at least 32.5 hours. That is an expectation set out by the Department for Education rather than a statutory minimum, and it governs the length of the day rather than the number of days.
Who actually sets the dates
Term dates are set by the school's employer, and the employer is different by school type.
| School type | Who sets term dates |
|---|---|
| Community, voluntary controlled, community special, maintained nursery | The local authority |
| Foundation, voluntary aided, foundation special | The governing body |
| Academy, free school | The school or its trust |
| Independent school | The school |
The Deregulation Act 2015 contains a provision that would hand the power to set term dates to governing bodies at community and voluntary controlled schools too, which would end the local authority's role almost entirely. It has not been brought into force, so as things stand councils still set the dates for that group.
Independent schools are a separate world again. They typically run shorter terms with longer holidays, often around 34 weeks against a state school's 38, which matters for working parents costing out childcare. Our guide to what schooling actually costs covers the holiday childcare gap that comes with it.
Why neighbouring schools differ
Three things pull school calendars apart on the same street.
- Different employers. An academy trust operating across two counties will usually pick one calendar for all its schools, which may match neither council.
- INSET placement. Even two schools that share a council's term dates exactly will place their five training days differently.
- Occasional days. Some schools close for polling stations at elections or for a staff day tied to a local event. These are announced separately and often late.
If you have children at more than one school, build one combined calendar in September as soon as both sets of dates are published, and check the INSET days as a separate exercise. They are frequently published weeks after the term dates.
Holidays, and the rules that bite
Term dates matter most to families when they collide with the price of a flight. The law is clear and has got tighter: a head teacher may grant leave of absence during term time only in exceptional circumstances, and a family holiday is not normally one.
Since 19 August 2024 a single national framework has applied across England. A penalty notice must be considered once a pupil has 10 sessions of unauthorised absence within a rolling period of 10 school weeks. The sessions need not be consecutive and can include lateness after the register closes. A first penalty notice is 80 pounds per parent per child if paid within 21 days, rising to 160 pounds if paid within 28. A second notice for the same child within three years is a flat 160 pounds with no lower rate, and a third offence within three years cannot attract a penalty notice at all, so the local authority must consider prosecution instead.
We cover this in detail on term time holiday fines and the school attendance rules.
How to find your school's dates, reliably
- Start on the school's own website, not the council's. Every school publishes its calendar, and for an academy that is the only authoritative source.
- Check whether the INSET days are on the same page. If not, search the school site for "INSET" or "training day" and check the newsletter archive.
- If the school is council-set, cross-check against the council's published term dates for the year, which usually run two or three years ahead.
- Diarise the following year in the summer term. Councils normally publish two years ahead; academy trusts often publish only one.
- If you are moving house, get the dates for the new school before you book anything. Our guide to choosing a school when moving house covers the rest of the timing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who sets school term dates in England?
The school's employer, which is not the same body in every case. The local authority sets them for community, voluntary controlled, community special and maintained nursery schools. The governing body sets them for foundation, voluntary aided and foundation special schools. Academies and free schools set their own. The Department for Education does not set term dates for anyone.
How many days must a school be open in England?
Local authority maintained schools must open for at least 380 sessions, which is 190 days, in a school year. A session is a morning or an afternoon. That figure is a legal minimum for maintained schools; academies are not bound by it, although in practice almost all of them run a similar year.
What is an INSET day?
A training day. Full-time teachers under the national pay and conditions document are available for work on 195 days a year, of which a maximum of 190 can involve teaching pupils. The five-day difference is the INSET or training day allowance, which is why pupils get five extra days off spread through the year.
Why do neighbouring schools break up on different days?
Because they have different employers setting their dates. An academy next door to a community school is free to set its own term dates and its own INSET days, so the two can differ by anything from a single training day to a whole week at half term. For families with children at both, check each school's published calendar rather than the council's.
Can I take my child on holiday in term time?
Only if the head teacher authorises it, and the law says leave may be granted only in exceptional circumstances. Since 19 August 2024 a single national framework applies: 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a rolling 10 school week period means a penalty notice must be considered, at 80 pounds per parent per child if paid within 21 days, rising to 160 pounds if paid within 28.
Where do I find my school's term dates?
On the school's own website, not the council's, unless you have confirmed the school is one the council sets dates for. Councils publish the dates they set, and academies publish their own. Check the INSET days separately, because those are often published later than the term dates themselves.
Sources
- Education (School Day and School Year) (England) Regulations 1999, regulation 3 (380 sessions): legislation.gov.uk
- House of Commons Library, The School Day and Year (SN07148), for who sets term dates, the Deregulation Act 2015 provision not yet in force, and the 32.5 hour expectation: commonslibrary.parliament.uk
- School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document, for 195 days, 190 teaching days and 1,265 hours of directed time: gov.uk
- Working together to improve school attendance, for the national framework for penalty notices in force from 19 August 2024: gov.uk
- Find your local council's published term dates: gov.uk
More from Schools Insight: school attendance fines in England, term time holiday fines and choosing a school when moving house.