What do the bracketed dates in the Gazette mean?

They mark days for administration around the start of Term 1 and the end of Term 4. The Gazette excludes them from school day counts and does not say who attends.

Do provinces have different term dates?

No. The national calendar applies to public schools in all nine provinces. No province has its own term dates.

School calendar 2026, 2027 and 2028

2026: Term 1 starts on 14 January 2026, the last school day is 9 December 2026, 199 school days (Gazette: 200); 2027: Term 1 starts on 13 January 2027, the last school day is 8 December 2027, 197 school days; 2028: Term 1 starts on 12 January 2028, the last school day is 6 December 2028, 200 school days.

Every term, year by year

Public school terms 2026, 2027 and 2028: first to last school day (days for administration not included)
Term	2026	2027	2028
Term 1	14 January to 27 March 2026Wed 14 Jan to Fri 27 Mar; 53 school days	13 January to 19 March 2027Wed 13 Jan to Fri 19 Mar; 48 school days	12 January to 17 March 2028Wed 12 Jan to Fri 17 Mar; 48 school days
Term 2	8 April to 26 June 2026Wed 8 Apr to Fri 26 Jun; 54 school days	6 April to 25 June 2027Tue 6 Apr to Fri 25 Jun; 56 school days	28 March to 14 June 2028Tue 28 Mar to Wed 14 Jun; 52 school days
Term 3	21 July to 23 September 2026Tue 21 Jul to Wed 23 Sep; 46 school days	20 July to 22 September 2027Tue 20 Jul to Wed 22 Sep; 46 school days	11 July to 22 September 2028Tue 11 Jul to Fri 22 Sep; 53 school days
Term 4	6 October to 9 December 2026Tue 6 Oct to Wed 9 Dec; 46 school days (Gazette: 47)	5 October to 8 December 2027Tue 5 Oct to Wed 8 Dec; 47 school days	3 October to 6 December 2028Tue 3 Oct to Wed 6 Dec; 47 school days
School days	199 in 43 weeksGazette figure: 200, printed before 4 November 2026 was declared a public holiday	197 in 42 weeks	200 in 43 weeks

Taken from Government Gazette 52177, Notice 5901 of 25 February 2025: 2026 Calendar for public schools; Department of Basic Education: Published 2026 School Calendar; gov.za: Public holidays in South Africa; Government Gazette 55352 (Regulation Gazette 12046), Proclamation Notice 346 of 8 September 2026: Declaration of 4 November 2026 as a public holiday; gov.za: Public Holidays Act: Declaration of the Fourth Day of November 2026 as Public Holiday throughout the Republic; Government Gazette 52178, Notice 5902 of 25 February 2025: 2027 Calendar for public schools; Department of Basic Education: Published 2027 School Calendar; Government Gazette 55619, Notice 8081 of 23 October 2026: 2028 Calendar for public schools; gov.za: National Education Policy Act: 2028 Calendar for public schools; Department of Basic Education: Proposed 2028 School Calendar for public comments (a proposed calendar for public comment, not the published notice; listed as a cross-check only). Saved copies last read on 6 November 2026.

The gov.za summary shows other 2027 dates

The gov.za school calendar summary shows the proposed dates of Term 3 and Term 4 for 2027, not the published ones. This site follows the dates in the published Government Gazette.

gov.za prints Term 3 as “20 July – 1 Oct” and Term 4 as “11 October – (8) 10 December”. The published Government Gazette 52178 prints Term 3 from 20 July 2027 to 22 September 2027 and Term 4 from 5 October 2027 to 8 December 2027. The gov.za figures are those of the proposed calendar: Government Gazette 51400, Notice 5429 of 15 October 2024: Call for comments, proposed 2027 school calendar.

By the gov.za figures the September–October holidays would be Saturday 2 October 2027 to Sunday 10 October 2027; by the published Gazette they are Thursday 23 September 2027 to Monday 4 October 2027, the dates on this page.

Each year’s page has the Gazette notice, the weekdays off inside each term and a printable year: school calendar 2026, school calendar 2027, school calendar 2028.

2029 calendar

The school calendar for 2029 has not been published in the Government Gazette. No dates are shown until it is published.

Questions people ask

What do the bracketed dates in the Gazette mean?: They mark days for administration around the start of Term 1 and the end of Term 4. The Gazette excludes them from school day counts and does not say who attends.
Do provinces have different term dates?: No. The national calendar applies to public schools in all nine provinces. No province has its own term dates.

The Gazette notices and pages behind this page

Government Gazette 52177, Notice 5901 of 25 February 2025: 2026 Calendar for public schools (copy saved 6 November 2026)
Department of Basic Education: Published 2026 School Calendar (copy saved 6 November 2026)
gov.za: Public holidays in South Africa (copy saved 6 November 2026)
Government Gazette 55352 (Regulation Gazette 12046), Proclamation Notice 346 of 8 September 2026: Declaration of 4 November 2026 as a public holiday (copy saved 6 November 2026)
gov.za: Public Holidays Act: Declaration of the Fourth Day of November 2026 as Public Holiday throughout the Republic (copy saved 6 November 2026)
Government Gazette 52178, Notice 5902 of 25 February 2025: 2027 Calendar for public schools (copy saved 6 November 2026)
Department of Basic Education: Published 2027 School Calendar (copy saved 6 November 2026)
Government Gazette 55619, Notice 8081 of 23 October 2026: 2028 Calendar for public schools (copy saved 6 November 2026)
gov.za: National Education Policy Act: 2028 Calendar for public schools (copy saved 6 November 2026)
Department of Basic Education: Proposed 2028 School Calendar for public comments (a proposed calendar for public comment, not the published notice; listed as a cross-check only) (copy saved 6 November 2026)

Each figure above was tested against saved copies of these papers, last read on 6 November 2026. Should this page and the Government Gazette ever part ways, go by the Gazette. How each date is tested.