Offterm.

How rare is your INSET day?

Most shared, still ahead

The dates most schools share

half1 in 41 in 10 1 Sep 2026 — about 6 in 10 schools — near-universal2 Sep 2026 — about 1 in 3 schools — common4 Jan 2027 — about 1 in 3 schools — common23 Oct 2026 — about 1 in 7 schools — typical3 Sep 2026 — about 1 in 11 schools — typical27 Nov 2026 — about 1 in 11 schools — typical2 Nov 2026 — about 1 in 12 schools — typical21 Jul 2027 — about 1 in 12 schools — typical4 Sep 2026 — about 1 in 13 schools — typical12 Apr 2027 — about 1 in 13 schools — typical12 Feb 2027 — about 1 in 15 schools — typical18 Dec 2026 — about 1 in 19 schools — typical7 Jun 2027 — about 1 in 19 schools — typical19 Jul 2027 — about 1 in 20 schools — unusual22 Jul 2027 — about 1 in 20 schools — unusual20 Jul 2027 — about 1 in 25 schools — unusual25 Sep 2026 — about 1 in 30 schools — unusual28 May 2027 — about 1 in 30 schools — unusual25 Jun 2027 — about 1 in 30 schools — unusual25 Mar 2027 — about 1 in 30 schools — unusual2 Jul 2027 — about 1 in 30 schools — unusual5 Jan 2027 — about 1 in 35 schools — unusual7 Sep 2026 — about 1 in 40 schools — unusual22 Oct 2026 — about 1 in 40 schools — unusual22 Feb 2027 — about 1 in 40 schools — unusual20 Nov 2026 — about 1 in 45 schools — unusual4 Dec 2026 — about 1 in 45 schools — unusual26 Jul 2027 — about 1 in 45 schools — unusual2 Oct 2026 — about 1 in 50 schools — unusual23 Jul 2027 — about 1 in 50 schools — unusual30 Nov 2026 — about 1 in 60 schools — unusual28 Jun 2027 — about 1 in 70 schools — unusual31 Aug 2027 — about 1 in 70 schools — unusual25 Aug 2026 — about 1 in 80 schools — unusual28 Aug 2026 — about 1 in 80 schools — unusual9 Oct 2026 — about 1 in 80 schools — unusual19 Oct 2026 — about 1 in 80 schools — unusual30 Oct 2026 — about 1 in 80 schools — unusual5 Mar 2027 — about 1 in 80 schools — unusual10 Mar 2027 — about 1 in 80 schools — unusual9 Apr 2027 — about 1 in 80 schools — unusual27 Aug 2026 — about 1 in 100 schools — rare18 Sep 2026 — about 1 in 100 schools — rare25 Nov 2026 — about 1 in 100 schools — rare29 Jan 2027 — about 1 in 100 schools — rare24 Aug 2026 — about 1 in 130 schools — rare8 Sep 2026 — about 1 in 130 schools — rare21 Oct 2026 — about 1 in 130 schools — rare26 Oct 2026 — about 1 in 130 schools — rare13 Nov 2026 — about 1 in 130 schools — rare11 Feb 2027 — about 1 in 130 schools — rare9 Mar 2027 — about 1 in 130 schools — rare12 Mar 2027 — about 1 in 130 schools — rare9 Jul 2027 — about 1 in 130 schools — rare31 Aug 2026 — about 1 in 200 schools — rare26 Nov 2026 — about 1 in 200 schools — rare1 Jan 2027 — about 1 in 200 schools — rare22 Jan 2027 — about 1 in 200 schools — rare8 Mar 2027 — about 1 in 200 schools — rare19 Mar 2027 — about 1 in 200 schools — rare5 Apr 2027 — about 1 in 200 schools — rare30 Apr 2027 — about 1 in 200 schools — rare4 May 2027 — about 1 in 200 schools — rare17 May 2027 — about 1 in 200 schools — rare18 Jun 2027 — about 1 in 200 schools — rare16 Jul 2027 — about 1 in 200 schools — rare28 Jul 2027 — about 1 in 200 schools — rare19 Aug 2026 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare21 Aug 2026 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare9 Sep 2026 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare11 Sep 2026 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare15 Sep 2026 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare24 Sep 2026 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare28 Sep 2026 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare6 Oct 2026 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare14 Oct 2026 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare15 Oct 2026 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare16 Oct 2026 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare20 Oct 2026 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare3 Nov 2026 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare6 Nov 2026 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare16 Nov 2026 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare7 Dec 2026 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare11 Jan 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare25 Jan 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare26 Jan 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare5 Feb 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare15 Feb 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare19 Feb 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare23 Feb 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare3 Mar 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare23 Mar 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare24 Mar 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare26 Mar 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare13 Apr 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare6 May 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare18 May 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare27 May 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare31 May 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare1 Jun 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare2 Jun 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare3 Jun 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare4 Jun 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare9 Jun 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare21 Jun 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare22 Jun 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare23 Jun 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare24 Jun 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare30 Jun 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare5 Jul 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare7 Jul 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare8 Jul 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare27 Jul 2027 — about 1 in 400 schools — rare
1 Sep, 2 Sep and 4 Jan 72 dates held by fewer than 1 in 100 schools Every observed date, tallest first. Your day is marked once you check it above.
DateSchools offVerdict
1 Sep 2026about 6 in 10Near-universal
2 Sep 2026about 1 in 3Common
4 Jan 2027about 1 in 3Common
23 Oct 2026about 1 in 7Typical
3 Sep 2026about 1 in 11Typical
27 Nov 2026about 1 in 11Typical
2 Nov 2026about 1 in 12Typical
21 Jul 2027about 1 in 12Typical
4 Sep 2026about 1 in 13Typical
12 Apr 2027about 1 in 13Typical

Where the day falls decides what it is worth

1,226 training days across 401 schools. About 6 in 10 land in the first week back after a break. About 1 in 7 fall on the last school day before one, which starts the break early. Darker bars mark the two placements worth planning around.

Common questions

Which dates do most schools take?

Three carry most of England’s training days: 1 September 2026 (about 6 in 10), 2 September 2026 (about 1 in 3) and 4 January 2027 (about 1 in 3). The other 110 dates in this sample are spread thin.

How many INSET days does an English school have?

Five is the most common count, but it is not a rule. The complete published lists in this sample run from four days to eight, averaging five and a half. Each school sets its own dates, so no national list exists.

Where are a school's INSET days published?

On the school's own term-dates page, often as a separate list headed INSET, training days or non-pupil days. If the page shows two academic years at once, check the year in the heading before booking anything.

Why can't this page name your school's dates?

They are set school by school and no central register holds them. Enter your date and this page tells you how many other schools share it.

Why are the two numbers in different units?

The ratio is a sampled estimate over 401 schools; the crowd score is a census of all 218 council calendars. Printing both as percentages would make an estimate look like a count. Neither is calculated from the other, and nothing measured here ever adjusts the crowd score.

Is an INSET day a good time to travel?

That turns entirely on where it falls. A midweek INSET in term time is the quietest kind of day out. One on the last school day before a break starts that break early, so you travel ahead of everyone else and pay the cheaper fare. The first days of September are the ones most schools share, so a training day there puts you on the road with every other family.

Are Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland covered?

Not yet. In-service days there are set centrally and bind every state school, so they are a matter of record rather than a sample. This page covers English state schools.

How was this measured?

A stratified sample of 401 English state schools out of the 19,913 on the register, drawn by region and phase from the Department for Education’s register of schools, weighted by pupil numbers. Every date comes from a school’s own published calendar. A date is only recorded when the source states the year outright or names a weekday that matches it. No date is inferred, and none is carried over from a previous year.

Only schools publishing a machine-readable calendar are included, and those are bigger and more often secondary: a median roll of 730 against 446, and 54% secondary against 36%. Every figure here carries that restriction. A date no sampled school takes is reported as an upper bound, fewer than 1 in 130 schools, never as zero.

The page keeps no record of which school takes which day, and never shows another school’s dates. See data licensing for the full method.

The first day of term is not a school day

England’s councils set the autumn term to start on Tuesday 1 September 2026, so the heatmap shows no councils on holiday that day. In this sample about 6 in 10 schools are shut anyway for staff training. The crowd score is a census of all 218 council calendars and is never adjusted by anything measured here.

Sampled from 401 English state schools, August 2026. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set in-service days centrally and are not covered here yet. INSET figures are a sampled estimate, not a census, and are never mixed into the crowd score. School holiday dates last verified September 2026.