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Administration and finance

Setting term dates


Devon County Council consults on, determines and publishes term dates that are recommended to all state-funded schools and academies in the county. They can then be used as the basis for the term dates for schools themselves.

On this page, you will see the determined term dates for this academic year and the coming years. They allow for 197 days on which children could attend school. You do not have to follow them exactly although the closer schools follow them, the easier it is for parents with children at different schools to co-ordinate attendance.

All maintained schools are required by The Education (School Day and School Year) (England) Regulations 1999 to open for 195 days, of which pupils should attend for 190 days during each academic year.

Schools should set two days of occasional holiday and five staff training days from the 197 recommended by the Council. Academies and free schools are not bound by these regulations but are encouraged to provide the same number of education days in each year.

It is recommended that schools set their occasional days to avoid split week holidays, wherever they fall, however, this is the responsibility of school governors, not the Council.

Schools are asked to indicate their non-pupil dates and opening times to the County Council after the core dates have been confirmed and published on this website. For the dates and times set for all Devon state-funded schools, please go to the School Information pages.

You can access a spreadsheet to mark your term dates if you wish. Each tab has a different academic year.

When you have set your own dates, please:

  • publish on your own website – on a clearly accessible page for term dates and school times (this should tell readers what the official start and finish times are and what time children should be dropped off and picked up by)
  • upload the information using this form

Making changes to school term dates and times of the school day

Once set, these should remain unaltered where possible. Parents and members of staff will use the term dates that are set for a school to book holidays. Nevertheless, sometimes it will be necessary to make changes, for instance where a school joins a federation or academy trust and wishes to align term dates with fellow members. Changes may also be necessary where an enforced closure requires training to be rescheduled.

Wherever possible, parents, members of staff and the LA should be notified of planned changes, giving them the opportunity to comment about the impact the change may have. As much notice as possible should also be given once a change is confirmed.

For changes to the start and finish time of the school day, again, good practice is to notify parents, members of staff and the LA of the proposed changes. Parents and members of staff will use the school’s times in making childcare and travel arrangements while the LA may need to alter existing school transport networks. It will comment on the potential financial cost of changes and ask that they be taken into account.

Changes to the times of the day should be made at the beginning of the academic year if possible and at the beginning of a term at least.

Once changes are confirmed, the updated information should be published on school websites and shared with the LA through the School Information pages and notifying schoolclosuredates-mailbox@devon.gov.uk

 2024/25

Term or holidayDates
Autumn termStarts: Tuesday 3 September 2024
Half term: Monday 28 October to Friday 1 November 2024
Ends: Friday 20 December 2024
Christmas holidayMonday 23 December 2024 to Friday 3 January 2025
Spring termStarts: Monday 6 January 2025
Half term: Monday 17 February to Friday 21 February 2025
Ends: Friday 4 April 2025
Easter holidayMonday 7 April to Monday 21 April 2025
Summer termStarts: Tuesday 22 April 2025
Half term: Monday 26 May to Friday 30 May 2025
Ends: Friday 25 July 2025

 2025/26

Term or holidayDates
Autumn termStarts: Tuesday 2 September 2025
Half term: Monday 27 October to Friday 31 October 2025
Ends: Friday 19 December 2025
Christmas holidayMonday 22 December 2025 to Friday 2 January 2026
Spring termStarts: Monday 5 January 2026
Half term: Monday 16 February to Friday 20 February 2026
Ends: Thursday 2 April 2026
Easter holidayFriday 3 April to Friday 17 April 2026
Summer termStarts: Monday 20 April 2026
Half term: Monday 25 May to Friday 29 May 2026
Ends: Friday 24 July 2026

 


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