Term dates for schools

Parents and carers have a legal obligation to make sure their children attend school regularly. You can only take a child out of school when there are exceptional circumstances. You do not have the right to take children on holiday in term time and may be fined if you do.

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These term dates are for guidance only.

Some schools set their own term dates or agree minor local variations so you should also consult your school's own website for their individual school dates.

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School term dates for 2024/2025

Autumn term 2024 – open 75 days

Summer term 2025 – open 60 days

• Calendar view of 2024/25 school term dates (PDF, 131KB)

School term dates 2025/2026

Autumn term 2025 – open 75 days

Spring term 2026 – open 55 days

Summer term 2026 – open 65 days

• Calendar view of 2025/2026 school term dates (PDF, 130KB)

School term dates 2026/2027

Autumn term 2026 - open 74 days

Spring term 2027 - open 54 days

Summer term 2027 - open 67 days

• Calendar view of 2026/2027 school term dates (PDF, 153KB)

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Setting term dates for Cheshire East schools

The Local Authority is responsible for setting dates for community and controlled schools, which are recommended for adoption by voluntary-aided, foundation, academies and free schools. Clusters of schools may agree minor local variations with the Local Authority.

In academies and free schools the duty lies with the governing board, or with the trust, depending on their agreements on delegation of responsibilities.

In all cases it is expected the best interests of children/ students will be the key consideration in setting term dates. Primary and secondary headteachers are expected to consult and agree the most appropriate pattern for their shared learning community.

Term dates will be set and published on the school website at least two school years in advance.

Principles for setting term dates in Cheshire East

• Where possible all terms to start on a Monday (or a Tuesday if so necessitated by a Bank Holiday).

• Autumn half term will be the full week prior to the first Tuesday in November

• Spring half term will be the third full week in February unless Easter is early, in which case the middle week of the spring term is selected

• Easter will be incorporated into the holidays, keeping the holiday period as close to the first two weeks of April as possible, therefore, Easter will be at the start, middle or end of the two-week break

• The Whitsun half term break will be one week, unless, in the case of primary schools, the Governing Board agrees an additional week; in such cases the summer term will end one week later than for other schools

• Where a school is open for part of a week to pupils, this will be for a minimum of three school days (to encourage attendance)

• The five “INSET” days are all to be designated by the individual Governing Board, but there will be no more than two days set consecutively for this purpose.

Required number of days

There is a requirement for all maintained schools to be open for the teaching of pupils/students for 380 sessions (or 190 days) each school year. Academies and free schools have the freedom if they so choose to extend their sessions for pupils beyond this.