Christmas school holidays 2026 by state
| State or territory | Last school day 2026 | Holiday period | Weekdays | Back at school 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | Full break between terms: to Download calendar entry: Summer school holidays 2026–27, NSW Department's holiday dates: Friday 18 December 2026 to Wednesday 27 January 2027 | 33 | ||
| Victoria | Full break between terms: to Download calendar entry: Summer school holidays, VIC Department's holiday dates: Monday 21 December 2026 to Wednesday 27 January 2027 | 28 | Teachers: Students in government schools: | |
| Queensland | to Download calendar entry: Term 4 holidays, QLD | 32 | ||
| Western Australia | to , derived | 31 | ||
| South Australia | , not yet settled. The official pages give conflicting dates for this holiday period. It is left out rather than guessed, and will be added once the discrepancy is settled and the dates are verified. The published start date for Term 1 2027 is Wednesday 27 January 2027. | |||
| Tasmania | to , derived | 33 | ||
| Australian Capital Territory | to , derived | 30 | New students: Continuing students: | |
| Northern Territory | to , derived | 33 | Teachers: Students: | |
Compare the summer school holidays over Christmas 2026 and New Year across every state and territory. The table shows each available holiday period's first and last day, its length in weekdays and the first day students return in the new year. Where every day students are away between the two terms is known, that full break is shown and labelled as such, and its weekdays are counted; otherwise the department’s printed summer period is used. Where no period is printed, the break is calculated from the day after the last school day of the year to the day before students return, and marked as derived. Where a row gives only the last school day, its note explains whether the next year's term dates are not yet published or official pages disagree about the summer dates.
- Earliest final school day
- NT: 10 December 2026
- Latest return to school
- TAS: 4 February 2027
- Most weekdays off, derived
- NSW, TAS and NT: 33NSW: Friday 18 December 2026 to Tuesday 2 February 2027; TAS: Saturday 19 December 2026 to Wednesday 3 February 2027; NT: Friday 11 December 2026 to Tuesday 26 January 2027
- Earliest summer holiday start compared with 2025, derived
- The earliest summer holiday start is 2 days earlier than in 2025
- Australia Day within summer holidays, derived
- Published school calendars with summer holidays covering Australia Day: 7 of 7
- Gap between summer holiday start dates, derived
- Gap between the earliest summer holiday start (NT) and the latest (VIC, TAS and ACT): 8 days
A derived label marks a figure calculated here from official dates; the official source does not publish the figure itself.
Reading the summer holiday period
Where every day students are away between the two terms is known, that full break appears here and is labelled as such; otherwise the department’s printed summer holiday period is shown. When no period is printed but both school dates are published, the break extends from the day after the year's last school day to the day before the next year's first school day, and these calculated rows carry a derived label. The return shown is the published first day for students where available; otherwise the row names the term start and notes any school development days it includes.
Related
- Easter school holidays 2026Every state's Easter break, including the first day back
- School holidays across Australia 2026term dates and breaks of every state in one matrix
- Long weekends in 2026By state and territory, drawn from the published public holidays.
- Christmas school holidays 2025Christmas Day 25 Dec 2025
- Christmas school holidays 2027Christmas Day 25 Dec 2027
- Christmas school holidays 2028Christmas Day 25 Dec 2028
Questions and answers
When do the Christmas school holidays start in each state in 2026?
The summer holidays in 2026 begin on Friday 11 December 2026 in the NT, Saturday 12 December 2026 in QLD, Friday 18 December 2026 in NSW, Friday 18 December 2026 in WA, Saturday 19 December 2026 in VIC, Saturday 19 December 2026 in TAS, Saturday 19 December 2026 in the ACT. Check the start of each available summer break in the table on this page. If only the last school day is shown, the row tells you whether the next year's term dates are still unpublished or conflicting official summer dates need to be resolved.
When does school go back after the Christmas 2026 summer holidays?
School goes back on Wednesday 27 January 2027 in QLD, Wednesday 27 January 2027 in the NT (Teachers on Monday 25 January 2027), Thursday 28 January 2027 in VIC (Teachers on Wednesday 27 January 2027), Monday 1 February 2027 in WA, Monday 1 February 2027 in the ACT (Continuing students on Tuesday 2 February 2027), Wednesday 3 February 2027 in NSW, Thursday 4 February 2027 in TAS. Check the Back at school column for each state or territory, including any notes about student return dates. Entries marked as not yet published have no confirmed return date listed here.
Why are the summer holidays over Christmas 2026 longer in some states than others?
Education departments set their term dates separately, so the end of the school year and the start of the next can leave different gaps. The weekday lengths in the table are counted from the published dates used for each holiday period.
Sources
- NSW Department of Education: 2026 term dates, school holidays and school development days (read on )
- NSW Department of Education: 2027 term dates, school holidays and school development days (read on )
- Victorian Department of Education (vic.gov.au): School term dates and holidays in Victoria (read on )
- Queensland Department of Education: Term dates (read on )
- Queensland Department of Education: Future school dates (read on )
- WA Department of Education: Term dates (Government Gazette dates) (read on )
- WA Department of Education: Past term dates (read on )
- SA Department for Education: Term dates for South Australian state schools (read on )
- Tasmanian Department for Education, Children and Young People: School terms and holidays (read on )
- ACT Government: Public holidays, school terms and daylight saving (read on )
- ACT Government: Public holidays, school terms and daylight saving (read on )
- NT Government: School term and holiday dates in NT, 2026 (read on )
- NT Government: School term and holiday dates in NT, future term dates 2027-2032 (read on )
Dates on this page were last checked against the official pages on . If any dates differ, follow the official page.