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Half Term Dates 2027: How They Work and Where to Go

Half term is the one school holiday nobody can give you a single date for, because it is set locally rather than nationally. Here is how it actually works, what is genuinely fixed, and the 424 kid-friendly sites we list.

Published 19 August 2026

If you have arrived here wanting one table of 2027 half term dates that applies to everyone, the honest answer is that it does not exist. School holiday dates in England are set by individual local authorities and academy trusts, and they differ, sometimes by a full week, between neighbouring councils. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set theirs separately again.

What is actually fixed

These are the anchors that do not move, and they are enough to plan around because half terms cluster near them.

AnchorDate in 2027Which break it governs
Good FridayFriday 26 MarchThe Easter holiday builds around it
Easter MondayMonday 29 MarchEnd of the first Easter week
Early May bank holidayMonday 3 MayOccasionally attached to a break
Spring bank holidayMonday 31 MayEnglish May half term almost always includes this
Summer bank holidayMonday 30 AugustThe last weekend of the English summer holiday
Full detail, including the Scottish and Northern Irish differences, is in UK bank holidays 2027.

The usual pattern

  • February half term: usually the week containing the middle of February. In England this is most commonly the week of 15 February 2027.
  • Easter: two weeks around Easter itself. With Easter falling on 28 March in 2027, the break is early and many authorities will run it across the end of March into early April.
  • May half term: the week including the spring bank holiday on Monday 31 May 2027.
  • Summer: roughly late July to the end of August in England and Wales; Scotland breaks up considerably earlier, usually late June, and returns in mid-August.
  • October half term: usually the last week of October, often including the clocks going back.

Scotland is the big divergence and the useful one. Scottish schools break up around a month earlier in the summer and return in mid-August, so the last two weeks of August are term time in Scotland and peak holiday in England. If you can travel then, the Scottish Highlands and the North Coast 500 are markedly quieter than the same weeks would suggest.

Booking against the dates

Two practical rules. First, the spring bank holiday week at the end of May is the most oversubscribed non-summer week of the year, because nearly every English authority takes it together. Book that one before Christmas. Second, February and October half terms are the value weeks: cold, yes, but heated accommodation makes them work and prices are a fraction of summer.

Where to go with children

We hold facilities data on every site, which makes the two useful filters straightforward: 424 sites are recorded as kid-friendly, and 70 have a swimming pool, the facility that reliably rescues a wet October week, as set out in campsites with a swimming pool.

Kid-friendly sites

Best-rated first.

See all 424 sites (418 more not shown here).

Common questions

When is half term in 2027?
There is no single national date. English half terms are set by local authorities and academy trusts and vary between councils; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set theirs separately. Check your own council’s published term dates.
When is May half term 2027?
For most English authorities it is the week including the spring bank holiday on Monday 31 May 2027, though exact dates vary by council.
Why do Scottish school holidays differ?
Scotland runs its own school calendar. Schools generally break up for summer in late June and return in mid-August, so the last two weeks of August are term time there and peak holiday in England.
Which half term is cheapest for a UK break?
February and October. Both are considerably cheaper than May or summer, and heated accommodation with a hot tub or an indoor pool makes them work.

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