Term dates
The school's term dates for the current academic year, including holidays and INSET days. They are expected to be on the school website.
Check this on my websiteWho it applies to
- Published on
- The school's own website
- School type
- Academies and maintained schools
- School stage
- All stages, from early years to sixth form
- Does not apply to
- No school types are excluded
When is it due?
- How often
- Every academic year
- Resets on
- 1 September, the start of the academic year
Current academic year's dates.
What's needed
Consider publishing term dates, including holidays and INSET days, on a term dates page covering the current and next academic year.
What it must contain
No parts listedThe official sources name no separate parts for this requirement. We check that it is published and easy to find.
What the official sources say
Set out in 1 official source:
Inspection information for state-funded schools (from September 2026)
(no verified source quote — verify)
Expected
Questions schools ask
Does every school have to publish the term dates?
The official sources we check set no requirement for academies. The official sources we check set no requirement for maintained schools.
When does the term dates need to be published?
How often: Every academic year. Resets on: 1 September, the start of the academic year. Current academic year's dates.
Where does the requirement for the term dates come from?
It is set out in Inspection information for state-funded schools (from September 2026).
Changes to the official sources
Dated change notes published by the Department for Education on the sources above.
28 August 2026 · Inspection information for state-funded schools (from September 2026)
See the 'Summary of changes'.
12 June 2026 · Inspection information for state-funded schools (from September 2026)
We added new versions of the inspection toolkit, operating guide for inspectors, monitoring operating guide for inspectors, and inspection information document that will come into force in September 2026. The summary of changes document lists what has changed.
5 November 2025 · Inspection information for state-funded schools (from September 2026)
We have added the school monitoring operating guide for inspectors, for use from 10 November 2025. We’ve also clarified what is expected in terms of strong leadership and governance and clarified expectations for achievement and how it relates to attainment and progress in national tests in the state-funded schools inspection toolkit.
8 September 2025 · Inspection information for state-funded schools (from September 2026)
First published.
We last checked these sources on 21 September 2026.
Is this on your school's website?
We check your site the way an inspector or a parent would find it: page by page, against the official wording of each requirement. If it's there, you get the page and the words we found. If it isn't, you get every place we looked.
Check this one requirement free, or scan your whole site against every requirement.
Official sources last checked 21 September 2026 · register version 1.0.4