School holidays 2026, 2027 and 2028
As of : The next school holidays are the December–January holidays: the last school day before them is Wednesday 9 December 2026, and school days start again on Wednesday 13 January 2027.
Compare public school holidays for 2026, 2027 and 2028. The breaks are worked out from the term dates published in the Government Gazette.
Every break, year by year
| Break | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 |
|---|---|---|---|
| After Term 1 | Sat 28 Mar to Tue 7 Apr11 days (7 weekdays) | Sat 20 Mar to Mon 5 Apr17 days (11 weekdays) | Sat 18 to Mon 27 Mar10 days (6 weekdays) |
| After Term 2 | Sat 27 Jun to Mon 20 Jul24 days (16 weekdays) | Sat 26 Jun to Mon 19 Jul24 days (16 weekdays) | Thu 15 Jun to Mon 10 Jul26 days (18 weekdays) |
| After Term 3 | Thu 24 Sep to Mon 5 Oct12 days (8 weekdays) | Thu 23 Sep to Mon 4 Oct12 days (8 weekdays) | Sat 23 Sep to Mon 2 Oct10 days (6 weekdays) |
| After Term 4 (year end) | Thu 10 Dec to Tue 12 Jan34 days (24 weekdays)Days for administration: Thu 10 to Fri 11 Dec and Mon 11 to Tue 12 Jan | Thu 9 Dec to Tue 11 Jan34 days (24 weekdays)Days for administration: Thu 9 to Fri 10 Dec and Mon 10 to Tue 11 Jan | from Thursday 7 December 2028ends with the next year’s calendar (not published)Days for administration: Thu 7 to Fri 8 Dec |
| Days between terms | 81 days | 87 days | 46 days, without the year-end break (its end is not published yet) |
Taken from Government Gazette 52177, Notice 5901 of 25 February 2025: 2026 Calendar for public schools; Department of Basic Education: Published 2026 School Calendar; 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 .
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.
The term dates behind each column: 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
- How are school holiday dates worked out?
- Each break runs from the day after the last school day of a term to the day before the first school day of the next term.
- When does the next school calendar appear?
- The Department of Basic Education first publishes a proposed calendar for public comment in the Government Gazette. The final calendar appears in a later Gazette.
The Gazette notices and pages behind this page
- Government Gazette 52177, Notice 5901 of 25 February 2025: 2026 Calendar for public schools (copy saved )
- Department of Basic Education: Published 2026 School Calendar (copy saved )
- Government Gazette 52178, Notice 5902 of 25 February 2025: 2027 Calendar for public schools (copy saved )
- Department of Basic Education: Published 2027 School Calendar (copy saved )
- Government Gazette 55619, Notice 8081 of 23 October 2026: 2028 Calendar for public schools (copy saved )
- gov.za: National Education Policy Act: 2028 Calendar for public schools (copy saved )
- 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 )
Each figure above was tested against saved copies of these papers, last read on . Should this page and the Government Gazette ever part ways, go by the Gazette. How each date is tested.