NSW School Holidays and Term Dates 2026

2026 NSW School Holiday Info

The information below is relevant to NSW state schools. Independent and Catholic schools do base their terms on the state school dates but their term dates can vary from school to school. You should check directly with the relevant school to find out the correct term date information. In NSW term dates are broken into Eastern Division and Western Division. The term dates for both divisions are identical with the exception of term 1.

Note that the dates below represent official term dates however many schools elect to start the students back on slightly different dates. For instance, it is common for the first day back at school to be a Tuesday for students rather than the Monday due to the first day being used as a school development day. It is also common for students to finish term 4 in the days prior to the final Friday.

NOTE: The Education NSW website does not include weekends or public holidays as part of the school holidays. For example, the Term 1 School Holidays show as starting on Tuesday, 7 April 2026. We have elected to include weekends and public holidays in our dates as it makes it easier for those planning holidays. So our Term 1 School Holidays show as starting on Friday, 3 April 2026. You can view the Education NSW school holiday dates here.

 

NSW School Holiday Calendar 2026

PeriodStartFinishLength
Term 1 - Eastern DivisionTuesday, 27 January 2026Thursday, 2 April 202610 weeks
Term 1 - Western DivisionTuesday, 3 February 2026Thursday, 2 April 20269 weeks
School HolidaysFriday, 3 April 2026Sunday, 19 April 2026
Term 2Monday, 20 April 2026Friday, 3 July 202610 weeks
School HolidaysSaturday, 4 July 2026Sunday, 19 July 2026
Term 3Monday, 20 July 2026Friday, 25 September 202610 weeks
School HolidaysSaturday, 26 September 2026Sunday, 11 October 2026
Term 4*Monday, 12 October 2026Thursday, 17 December 202610 weeks
School Holidays - Eastern DivisionFriday, 18 December 2026Wednesday, 27 January 2027
School Holidays - Western DivisionFriday, 18 December 2026Wednesday, 3 February 2027

*Year 12 has different finishing dates in term 4. Year 12 only goes for 3 terms and graduate late September/early October. There is then a short break before returning for final exams (HSC) which start mid-October and end around the same time in November.