East Sussex School Term and Holiday Dates for 2026-2027

Overview

East Sussex County Council would like to know your views on the proposed school term and holiday dates for the academic year 2026-2027. East Sussex County Council proposes that schools would begin the academic year on 2 September 2026 and continue through until 22 July 2027 (last day of term).

Term 1:

* Wednesday 2 September 2026 to Friday 23 October 2026 (38 school days)

Term 2:

Monday 2 November 2026 to Friday 18 December 2026 (35 school days)

Term 3:

Monday 4 January 2027 to Friday 12 February 2027 (30 school days)

Term 4:

Monday 22 February 2027 to Thursday 25 March 2027 (24 school days)

Term 5:

Monday 12 April 2027 to Friday 28 May 2027 (34 school days)

Term 6:

Monday 7 June 2027 to Thursday 22 July 2027 (34 school days)

Total:  195 school days

*INSET Day

A calendar format of these dates is available to view below or can be downloaded  in the 'Related' section below.

Why your views matter

The local authority (LA) has a duty to determine school term and holiday dates for community and voluntary controlled schools. Academies, free schools, voluntary aided schools and foundation schools are responsible for setting their own dates.  You are advised to contact those schools direct to check on their term dates as they may differ from the local authority’s.

A number of 'guiding principles' are used to set the pattern of term and holiday dates. These include:

• Schools must be open for 190 days in an academic year, 195 days for teachers (a legal requirement).
• Five In-Service Education Training (INSET) days (a legal requirement). The proposal recommends a common INSET day on Wednesday 2 September 2026. Schools can then decide four further training days themselves.
• In proposing these dates, the LA consults with neighbouring authorities about proposals for school term and holiday dates within their areas. In doing this the LA seeks to ensure that dates coincide where possible across borders to minimise the potential disruption and attendance issues that may arise for families with children attending different schools and school staff with children at schools in areas other than where they are working. 

We have shared our proposal with neighbouring local authorities in Brighton & Hove, Kent, West Sussex and Surrey. Where possible we will align with neighbouring authorities by prioritising the following principles:

• The need to maximise learning and revision time in the terms before SATs (Standard Attainment Tests in Year 2 and Year 6), GCSEs and post 16 exams.
• Easter and bank holiday dates. Working parents often rely on these being part of school holidays to use annual leave efficiently.

Academies, free schools, voluntary aided schools and foundation schools decide their own term time and holiday dates so there may be variations across the county.  We are consulting all schools, including academies, free schools, voluntary aided schools and foundation schools to unify term and holiday dates across East Sussex as far as possible. Unifying dates helps to facilitate good attendance and minimises the implications for families with children who attend different schools

Your views on the proposal for school term and holiday dates for 2026/2027 are important to us so we would welcome any suggestions on improving the school calendar in East Sussex.

To comment, click on ‘Online Survey’ below or email your comments to School.Consultations@eastsussex.gov.uk

Please submit your comments or survey responses by no later than Sunday 4th May 2025.

Privacy information: This survey is anonymous, although we do ask you to complete an optional 'about you' section at the end. Please ensure that any comments you make do not include any names or personal details of you or anyone else. For more information about why we collect ‘about you’ information and how the data will be stored and processed by East Sussex County Council please click here