Consultation on proposed school terms and holiday dates for 2026/2027

Bristol City Council is responsible for setting the school term and holiday dates for all Community and Voluntary Controlled schools in the city. Academies have the freedom to determine their own but often choose to align with the Local Authority.

Local Authority maintained schools must open for 380 sessions, the equivalent of 190 days.

Bristol City Council usually intends to find continuity with our neighbouring Local Authorities; South Gloucestershire, Bath and North East Somerset, and North Somerset. This was not possible for 2026/2027 so Bristol are proposing two options for consultation of what we feel are the most suitable dates, considering various factors including the working commitments of Bristol families, consistency in the length of each term and the avoidance of unauthorised absence, particularly during the summer term.

Around five hundred Bristol children are educated in state schools in our neighbouring Local Authorities. The majority of these of primary school age travel to South Gloucestershire whereas most secondary school age children travel to North Somerset.

For this reason, we are consulting on two sets of dates:

• Option 1 dates align with those proposed by South Gloucestershire
• Option 2 dates align with those proposed with North Somerset

pdf Calendar showing proposed dates for option 1(81 KB)

pdf Calendar showing proposed dates for option 2(84 KB)

Both options have a total of 195 school days. In the school year 2026/2027, pupils must attend for 190 days. Schools may decide which 5 days in the school year are INSET or non-contact days (days when pupils do not attend).