School Holidays & Training Days
Welsh Government - School term dates - Regulations
Welsh Ministers have used the Education (Wales) Act 2014 to make legislative changes to how term dates are set in order to enable harmonisation of school term dates for all maintained schools.
These changes mean that local authorities and the governing bodies of voluntary aided and foundation schools can be directed by the Welsh Ministers on what their term dates must be if those dates are not harmonised, or if they need changing.
Harmonised Term Dates and Minister’s Direction
Please note that five training days for teaching staff are held annually. On training days, the school premises are open but pupils are not admitted. The local authority no longer recommends set training days. Schools are responsible for setting their own training dates. Please see your child’s school website for details.
Autumn Term 2020
- 1 September 2020 - 23 October 2020
- 2 November 2020 - 18 December 2020
Spring Term 2021
- 4 January 2021 - 12 February 2021
- 22 February 2021 - 26 March 2021
Summer Term 2021
- 12 April 2021 - 28 May 2021
- May Day: 3 May 2021
- 7 June 2021 - 20 July 2021
Autumn Term 2021
- 1 September 2021 - 22 October 2021
- 1 November 2021 - 22 December 2021
Spring Term 2022
- 6 January 2022 - 18 February 2022
- 28 February 2022 - 8 April 2022
Summer Term 2022
- 25 April 2022 - 27 May 2022
- 6 June 2022 - 20 July 2022
Autumn Term 2022
- 1 September 2022 - 28 October 2022
- 7 November 2022 - 23 December 2022
Spring Term 2023
- 9 January 2023 - 17 February 2023
- 27 February 2023 - 31 March 2023
Summer Term 2023
- 17 April 2023 - 26 May 2023
- 5 June 2023 - 20 July 2023
You should not normally take your child on holiday in term time as it can be disruptive both to your child's education and to the school.
Holidays in term time can only be agreed by the Head teacher or someone with appropriate authority. Schools can use their discretion to grant up to 10days’ authorised absence in a school year if:
- the parent the child normally lives with applies to the school in advance of the holiday
- there are special reasons for the holiday.
Schools can only agree to more than 10 school days’ absence in any school year in exceptional circumstances. Schools must judge each holiday request on a case by case basis. They can take into consideration:
- the time of year for the proposed trip
- if it's near any exam dates
- your child's overall attendance pattern
- any holidays already taken in the school year
- the age and stage of education of your child
- your wishes
- the ability of your child to catch up the work that they have missed
- the reason why you are taking the time off during term time.
Schools should not take into consideration:
- availability of cheap holidays
- availability of desired accommodation
- poor weather experienced in school holiday periods
- overlap with the beginning or end of term.