Christmas holidays 2026
Also called winter break, Christmas break.
For most councils
21 Dec 2026 – 1 Jan 2027
Monday 21 December to Friday 1 January · 10 school days
106 of 146 councils in England and Wales (73%) take these dates. The other 40 are listed below.
Christmas holidays 2026 by council
Grouped by the dates each council takes, most common first. Every council links to its own year.
21 Dec 2026 – 1 Jan 2027
106 councils · 10 school days- Barking and Dagenham
- Barnsley
- Bath and North East Somerset
- Bexley
- Birmingham
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Blaenau Gwent *
- Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
- Bradford
- Brent
- Bridgend *
- Brighton and Hove
- Bristol, City of
- Bromley
- Buckinghamshire
- Cambridgeshire
- Camden
- Cardiff *
- Cheshire East
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Conwy *
- Coventry
- Croydon
- Darlington
- Denbighshire
- Derby
- Doncaster
- Dudley
- Ealing
- East Riding of Yorkshire
- East Sussex
- Enfield
- Gloucestershire
- Greenwich
- Hackney
- Hammersmith and Fulham
- Hampshire
- Haringey
- Harrow
- Hartlepool
- Havering
- Hertfordshire
- Hillingdon
- Hounslow
- Islington
- Kensington and Chelsea
- Kent
- Kingston upon Hull, City of
- Kingston upon Thames
- Kirklees
- Knowsley *
- Lambeth
- Lancashire
- Leeds
- Leicestershire *
- Lewisham
- Liverpool
- Manchester
- Medway
- Merton
- Middlesbrough
- Milton Keynes
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- Newham
- North Somerset
- North Yorkshire
- Nottingham
- Peterborough
- Portsmouth
- Reading
- Redbridge
- Redcar and Cleveland
- Richmond upon Thames
- Rochdale
- Rotherham
- Sandwell
- Sheffield
- Slough
- Solihull
- Somerset
- South Gloucestershire
- Southwark
- Staffordshire
- Stockton-on-Tees
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Sunderland
- Surrey
- Sutton
- Swindon
- Tameside
- Thurrock
- Torbay
- Tower Hamlets
- Wakefield
- Walsall
- Waltham Forest
- Wandsworth
- Warwickshire
- West Northamptonshire
- West Sussex
- Westminster
- Wirral
- Wokingham
- Wolverhampton
- Worcestershire
- York
19 Dec 2026 – 3 Jan 2027
18 councils · 10 school days21 Dec 2026 – 3 Jan 2027
9 councils · 10 school days21 Dec 2026 – 4 Jan 2027
5 councils · 11 school days19 Dec 2026 – 4 Jan 2027
4 councils · 11 school days21–31 December 2026
4 councils · 9 school days* Worked out from the gap between terms, because the council publishes term dates rather than holiday dates.
Questions
- When are Christmas holidays 2026?
- For most councils in England and Wales, Christmas holidays 2026 run from Monday, 21 December 2026 to Friday, 1 January 2027 - 106 of 146 councils. The earliest council starts on 19 December 2026 and the latest finishes on 4 January 2027.
- How long are Christmas holidays 2026?
- 10 school days for most councils. The length varies by council; the table on this page lists each one.
- Do all councils have the same Christmas holidays?
- No. 6 different sets of dates are in use for Christmas holidays 2026. 106 councils take 21 Dec 2026 – 1 Jan 2027; the next most common is 19 Dec 2026 – 3 Jan 2027, taken by 18. Academies and free schools can set their own dates again, so check your school's page.