Leave HackerGuidesPlan my yearSchool holidays by council, 2026/27 and 2027/28
Term dates and school holidays for 106 councils in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, from each council's own published dates, with the days of annual leave that cover them best.
No council by that name here yet. Try gov.uk's council finder.
England
51 councils. The usual October half term 2026 is Sat 24 Oct to Sun 1 Nov 2026 (44 of 50), and the summer holidays 2027 most often run Thu 22 Jul to Tue 31 Aug 2027 (17 of 50). Every English council compared.
- Birmingham
- Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
- Brent
- Bristol
- Buckinghamshire
- Cambridgeshire
- Cheshire East
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Cornwall
- County Durham
- Coventry
- Croydon
- Derbyshire
- Devon
- Dorset
- Ealing
- East Riding of Yorkshire
- East Sussex
- Essex
- Gloucestershire
- Hampshire
- Hertfordshire
- Kent
- Lancashire
- Leeds
- Leicester
- Leicestershire
- Lincolnshire
- Liverpool
- Manchester
- Newham
- Norfolk
- North Northamptonshire
- North Yorkshire
- Northumberland
- Nottinghamshire
- Oxfordshire
- Sandwell
- Sheffield
- Shropshire
- Somerset
- Staffordshire
- Suffolk
- Surrey
- Wakefield
- Warwickshire
- West Northamptonshire
- West Sussex
- Wigan
- Wiltshire
- Worcestershire
Wales
22 councils. The usual October half term 2026 is Sat 24 Oct to Sun 1 Nov 2026 (22 of 22), and the summer holidays 2027 most often run Wed 21 Jul to Tue 31 Aug 2027 (14 of 22). Every Welsh council compared.
Scotland
32 councils. The usual October holidays 2026 is Sat 10 Oct to Sun 18 Oct 2026 (11 of 32), and the summer holidays 2027 most often run Sat 26 Jun to Tue 10 Aug 2027 (4 of 32). Every Scottish council compared.
- Aberdeen
- Aberdeenshire
- Angus
- Argyll and Bute
- Clackmannanshire
- Dumfries and Galloway
- Dundee
- East Ayrshire
- East Dunbartonshire
- East Lothian
- East Renfrewshire
- Edinburgh
- Falkirk
- Fife
- Glasgow
- Highland
- Inverclyde
- Midlothian
- Moray
- North Ayrshire
- North Lanarkshire
- Orkney
- Perth and Kinross
- Renfrewshire
- Scottish Borders
- Shetland
- South Ayrshire
- South Lanarkshire
- Stirling
- West Dunbartonshire
- West Lothian
- Western Isles
Northern Ireland
Schools mostly follow the Department of Education's dates, so Northern Ireland has one set of holidays: Northern Ireland school holidays 2026/27.
Where the dates come from
Each council's own term dates page or PDF (gov.wales for Wales, the Department of Education for Northern Ireland), checked date by date against the page, with the day we checked it on every council page. Holidays run from the first Saturday off to the last Sunday. The days of leave to book come from the same planner as the Leave Hacker app, with the nation's bank holidays from gov.uk.
Academies, free schools, church and independent schools can set different dates, and each school sets most of its training (INSET) days, so check with your school before you book.
Questions
When is October half term 2026?
In England it's most often Sat 24 Oct to Sun 1 Nov 2026 (44 of the 50 councils we have), but councils set their own: look yours up above. Scotland's October holidays and Northern Ireland's Halloween holidays are on their own dates.
Are school holidays the same across the UK?
No. Each council sets its own term dates, a week or two apart, and Scotland's school year starts in August and ends in late June, earlier than England's, Wales's and Northern Ireland's.
Do academies have the same school holidays?
Not always. In England, academies, free schools, foundation and voluntary aided schools can set their own dates, and independent schools always do. Many follow the council's, but check with your school.