About Offterm
An independent data project. Not a government service, not a travel company.
What it is
UK school holiday dates compiled from 218 local authority council publications across all four nations. The heatmap shows what percentage of schools are off on any given day. The static pages break it down by nation, holiday period, and how UK breaks compare with school calendars across 28 European destinations and 3 US states.
The data
UK dates come from council-published term date calendars, cross-referenced against devolved government guidance. EU dates come from official education ministry publications. US state dates come from representative school district calendars — each destination page cites its source.
Dataset: v14, updated August 2026.
All dates are from published official sources. Nothing is estimated. Caveats: English academy schools can set their own dates, so confirm with your school. Scottish councils vary more than the national pattern, particularly in the Highlands and islands. EU dates are national patterns; local schools can be a day or two off. US dates are based on a representative district proxy — other districts in the same state may vary.
Updates
Manually updated when councils publish new academic year dates, typically January–June each year. Last update date shown on each page.
How it's funded
Some outbound hotel and holiday links are affiliate links: if a booking follows a click, Offterm earns a small commission at no extra cost to the traveller. Commissions never influence the dates, scores, or rankings shown — those come from the school holiday data alone. The underlying dataset is also licensed to businesses.