England's 2026 school holidays are shaped by an early Easter (5 April) that places Easter breaks in late March and early April. The May half-term typically falls around 25 May โ giving a gap of approximately 7 weeks between Easter and half-term, slightly longer than in 2025.
Summer holidays: England's ~6-week summer break runs from late July to early September. The Summer Bank Holiday (31 August) falls at the very end of most summer breaks.
October half-term: Usually the last week of October โ a popular week for family breaks before the long autumn term stretch to Christmas.
Christmas 2026: Christmas Day (25 December) falls on a Friday and Boxing Day's substitute bank holiday is Monday 28 December โ giving schools a natural break from approximately 21 December 2026 to 5โ7 January 2027. The four-day bank holiday weekend means most schools will return on Tuesday 5 January at the earliest.