Waltham Forest Council has set the school term dates for the academic years 2026-27 and 2027-28, ensuring consistency and planning for families and schools across the borough. The dates have been designed to align with those of neighbouring boroughs.
The decision, made by Councillor Kizzy Gardiner, Portfolio Lead Member for Children and Young People, follows a consultation with schools and stakeholders between 2 June 2025 and 13 July 2025. The council has a statutory duty to set these dates for community, voluntary controlled, community special schools and maintained nurseries, as per Section 32 of the Education Act 2002.
During the consultation, eight responses were received via Microsoft Forms, with most schools confirming they would follow the term dates. One school indicated a slight variation around the October half-term, adopting a two-week break instead of one, and adjusting their calendar accordingly. The council hopes that all governing bodies in Waltham Forest will agree to follow the same holiday pattern for 2026/27 and 2027/28.
For the academic year 2026-27, the term dates are as follows:
- Autumn Term: Wednesday 2 September 2026 to Friday 18 December 2026, with a half-term holiday from Monday 26 October 2026 to Friday 30 October 2026.
- Spring Term: Monday 4 January 2027 to Thursday 25 March 2027, with a half-term holiday from Monday 15 February 2027 to Friday 19 February 2027.
- Summer Term: Monday 12 April 2027 to Thursday 22 July 2027, with a half-term holiday from Tuesday 1 June 2027 to Friday 4 June 2027.
The council has also agreed in principle to the term dates for 2027-28, with a further consultation planned for May 2026 and final confirmation in July 2026. The proposed dates are:
- Autumn Term: Wednesday 1 September 2027 to Friday 17 December 2027, with a half-term holiday from Monday 25 October 2027 to Friday 29 October 2027.
- Spring Term: Tuesday 4 January 2028 to Friday 31 March 2028, with a half-term holiday from Monday 14 February 2028 to Friday 18 February 2028.
- Summer Term: Tuesday 18 April 2028 to Friday 21 July 2028, with a half-term holiday from Tuesday 30 May 2028 to Friday 2 June 2028.
The decision was made at an Executive Decision meeting on Wednesday 08 October 2025, where the School Term Dates 2026-27 and 2027-28 - ED report was considered. The Agenda frontsheet for the meeting is available online.
The council consulted with schools between 2 June 2025 and 13 July 2025. According to the Consultation report, most schools confirmed they would follow the recommended term dates.
The council hopes that all governing bodies in Waltham Forest will agree to follow the same holiday pattern for 2026/27 and 2027/28. This recommendation aims to:
- Ensure that families come first in school term planning.
- Enable holistic service planning across council services and local schools.
- Reduce the burden on individual schools to set their own holiday patterns.
The approved calendar includes a maximum of 5 INSET days, which individual schools can set to meet their statutory obligation of 190 pupil days. The council, in partnership with SACRE, will continue to guide governing bodies on consulting with their school communities on religious holidays, and on how best to teach pupils about the significance of particular religious festivals, within the schools that choose to remain open during a religious festival. The specific details of this guidance are not provided in the document.
The council does not set dates for school INSET days and has set dates based on the principle that schools should avoid weeks of less than three days to support good attendance and quality learning outcomes, and to keep the number of pupil days in each half term as equal as possible.
An Equalities Analysis screening determined that the proposed term dates would not negatively impact any protected groups.
It is not specified in the report what measures will be taken if some schools choose not to comply with the recommended holiday pattern.