UAE school holidays 2026-27: official term dates
Official UAE term dates from the Ministry of Education: October half term is 12–16 October 2026, winter break 14 December, and term dates published through to June 2029.
The October dates changed
If you have 19–23 October written down, it is out of date. The break is now 12–16 October 2026, a week earlier. Some school portals still show the old PDF, so check anything you booked around the original week.
Every school in the UAE follows one calendar. The Ministry of Education sets it, and private schools — British, American, IB and the rest — follow the same term and holiday dates, with only narrow room to split a mid-term break with the regulator's approval.
That answers most of the questions on this page: if you are wondering whether your child's school breaks at a different time from the one down the road, it almost certainly does not.
The 2026-27 year in full
| Period | Dates | Days at home |
|---|---|---|
| Academic year begins | Mon 31 August 2026 | — |
| October mid-term break | Mon 12 – Fri 16 October 2026 | 9 (Sat 10 – Sun 18 Oct) |
| Winter break | Mon 14 December 2026 – Fri 1 January 2027 | 21 (Mon 14 Dec – Sun 3 Jan) |
| Term 2 begins | Mon 4 January 2027 | — |
| Spring break | Mon 5 – Fri 9 April 2027 | 9 (Sat 3 – Sun 11 Apr) |
| Term 3 begins | Mon 12 April 2027 | — |
| Last day for students | Fri 2 July 2027 | — |
| Summer break begins | Mon 5 July 2027 | around 8 weeks |
Teaching staff work a little either side of this: they start on 24 August 2026, a week before pupils, and their winter break begins 21 December, a week later than the children's.
Public holidays that close schools
The Islamic dates depend on the moon sighting and can move by a day, but these are the dates schools are planning around.
| Holiday | Dates | School days lost |
|---|---|---|
| Prophet's Birthday | Fri 28 August 2026 | Before term starts |
| Eid Al Etihad (National Day) | Wed 2 – Fri 4 December 2026 | 3 |
| New Year's Day | Fri 1 January 2027 | Inside the winter break |
| Eid Al Fitr | Mon 8 – Fri 12 March 2027 | 5 |
| Eid Al Adha | Sat 15 – Tue 18 May 2027 | 2 |
| Hijri New Year | Sun 6 June 2027 | 1 |
How the year is built
The Ministry sets a floor of 185 teaching days. That is why a break moves rather than disappears when a holiday falls awkwardly, and why schools cannot simply add a day at either end.
| Term | Weeks | School days |
|---|---|---|
| Term 1 | 13 | 67 |
| Term 2 | 12 | 60 |
| Term 3 | 12 | 58 |
- Aug 2026Term 1 beginsMonday 31 August for pupils; staff returned on 24 August.
- Oct 2026Mid-term breakNine days at home, 10 to 18 October.
- Dec 2026National Day, then examsThree days off from 2 December, with end-of-term exams either side.
- Dec 2026Winter breakThe longest break outside summer: 21 days from 14 December.
- Jan 2027Term 2 beginsMonday 4 January.
- Mar 2027Eid Al FitrFive school days, 8 to 12 March.
- Apr 2027Spring breakNine days at home, 3 to 11 April.
- May 2027Eid Al Adha15 to 18 May.
- Jul 2027Term 3 endsFriday 2 July, then the summer break.
The next three years
The Ministry published the calendar to 2029, which is unusual and useful if you are booking flights a long way ahead or choosing when to move.
| Academic year | Pupils start | Winter break starts | Spring break starts | Last day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | Mon 31 Aug 2026 | Mon 14 Dec 2026 | Mon 5 Apr 2027 | Fri 2 Jul 2027 |
| 2027-28 | Mon 30 Aug 2027 | Mon 13 Dec 2027 | Mon 27 Mar 2028 | Fri 30 Jun 2028 |
| 2028-29 | Mon 28 Aug 2028 | Mon 11 Dec 2028 | Mon 26 Mar 2029 | Fri 29 Jun 2029 |
The October mid-term break falls on 11–15 October 2027 and 16–20 October 2028. Both later years are built to 185 and 186 teaching days respectively.
If you are booking flights
Book around the term dates, which are fixed and published years ahead. Be more careful with the Islamic holidays: Eid depends on the moon sighting, so a long weekend that looks certain in January can land a day either side in practice.
Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the other emirates
The calendar is federal, so term and holiday dates are the same across all seven emirates. What differs is the detail underneath: individual schools set their own INSET days, staggered starts and assessment weeks, and Dubai's KHDA and Abu Dhabi's ADEK publish guidance on top of the federal dates.
If your school's calendar disagrees with the table above by more than a day or two, follow the school — and ask the office, because it usually means an approved variation rather than a mistake.
If schools close unexpectedly
Separate from all of this, schools occasionally close at short notice for weather — heavy rain or fog — usually announced the evening before, with lessons moving to distance learning rather than being cancelled. That happened once in the past year, over four days in May 2026.
Those announcements come too late to plan around. Watch the Ministry and your school's own channels on the night, not a calendar.
FAQs
When is the October half term in Dubai 2026?
Monday 12 to Friday 16 October 2026. The last day of school is Friday 9 October and pupils return on Monday 19 October — nine days at home counting both weekends.
When does the UAE school year 2026-27 start and end?
Pupils start on Monday 31 August 2026 and finish on Friday 2 July 2027. Teaching staff start a week earlier, on 24 August.
When is the winter break for UAE schools?
Monday 14 December 2026 to Friday 1 January 2027 for pupils, who return on Monday 4 January — 21 days at home. Staff break a week later, from 21 December.
When is the spring break 2027?
Monday 5 to Friday 9 April 2027, with pupils back on Monday 12 April. Counting the weekends either side, that is nine days at home.
When is Eid Al Fitr 2027 for schools?
The Ministry has scheduled Monday 8 to Friday 12 March 2027. Eid depends on the moon sighting, so it can shift by a day.
When do UAE schools start in 2027 and 2028?
Monday 30 August 2027 and Monday 28 August 2028. The Ministry has published term dates to June 2029.
Do private schools in Dubai follow the same dates as public schools?
Yes. All schools follow the Ministry's unified calendar. A private school may split a mid-term break with the regulator's approval, but it cannot set its own term dates.
Are the dates the same in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah?
Yes — the calendar is federal and applies across all seven emirates.
Where these dates come from Ministry of Education, Academic Calendar 2026-2027 — the detailed calendar for this school year, including term lengths and public holidays. Ministry of Education, Academic Calendar 2026-2028 — the approved three-year calendar, which is where the 2027-28 and 2028-29 dates come from. Both were announced in August 2026. Every date on this page is read from those two calendars rather than from press coverage of them, and was checked in September 2026. This page is updated whenever the Ministry issues a change.
