Three countries, three shapes of year
Every school year has to fit a similar amount of learning into the calendar, but the way it is divided differs a lot. The divisions matter for planning: a term or half-term is the natural unit for teaching a strand of the curriculum, and the breaks are where knowledge fades and needs review.
Australia: four terms
Australian schools run four terms of roughly ten weeks each, about forty school weeks and close to two hundred school days a year. Term 1 usually runs from late January to early April, Term 2 from late April to late June or early July, Term 3 from mid July to late September, and Term 4 from early October to mid December.
There is a break of about two weeks between terms and a long summer holiday of around six weeks across December and January (summer in the southern hemisphere). Each state and territory sets its own dates, so they differ by a week or two, and public holidays vary by state.
United Kingdom: three terms and six half-terms
Schools in England run three terms, Autumn, Spring and Summer, and each term is split by a half-term break, which gives six half-terms across the year. That is roughly thirty-nine weeks and about one hundred and ninety pupil days (a few more for staff, counting teacher-training INSET days).
The Autumn term runs from early September to mid or late December, with a half-term around late October. The Spring term runs from early January to around Easter, with a half-term in mid February. The Summer term runs from mid April to mid or late July, with a half-term in late May. Local authorities and academy trusts set the exact dates, so they vary, and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own calendars (Scottish schools break for summer earlier, from late June).
United States: districts set the calendar
There is no national school calendar in the United States. Each district sets its own, within state rules, so the picture varies more than anywhere else. Most schools aim for around one hundred and eighty school days over about thirty-six weeks.
Most start in late August or early September and finish in late May or June, though some southern and year-round schools start earlier. The year is usually organised into two semesters or four quarters. Common breaks are Thanksgiving in late November, a winter break of about two weeks around late December, and a spring break of a week in March or April, alongside federal holidays such as Labor Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents' Day and Memorial Day.
At a glance
| Australia | UK (England) | United States | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Divisions | 4 terms | 3 terms (6 half-terms) | 2 semesters or 4 quarters |
| School weeks | about 40 | about 39 | about 36 |
| School days | about 200 | about 190 | about 180 |
| Year starts | Late January | Early September | Late August to September |
| Long break | December to January | Late July to August | June to August |
| Who sets dates | State or territory | Council or academy | Each district |
Typical structure of the school year. Exact dates are set locally and change each year.
How to plan your teaching around the terms
- Use the term or half-term as your unit. Plan a strand of the curriculum to fit one block, so nothing is rushed at the end of the year.
- Front-load new concepts early in a block, when attention is freshest, and leave the last week for consolidation and assessment before a break.
- After a long break, plan a review week. Knowledge fades over the holidays, so recovering it first pays off.
- Map the whole year backwards from the end. Count the teaching weeks, subtract assessment and review, and check every curriculum strand has a home.
- Spiral the tricky skills. Revisit key ideas in short bursts across several terms rather than teaching them once and moving on.
Where to find your exact dates
Treat this guide as the shape of the year, not the dates. For the real calendar, go to the authority that sets it: in Australia, your state or territory education department; in the UK, gov.uk term dates and then your local council or academy trust; in the United States, your own school district's calendar. These are published a year or more ahead and change annually.