Dutch school holidays 2026 to 2027: dates for every region

The next break in the government’s 2026 to 2027 school holiday overview is Christmas, from Saturday 19 December 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, the same in all three regions. After that, the dates depend on whether your child’s school is in region Noord, Midden or Zuid: the advised spring break starts on 13 or 20 February 2027, and summer starts on 10, 17 or 24 July 2027. The region follows the school, not your home.

The dates

These are the dates in the government’s official overview for 2026 to 2027. Each range runs Saturday to Sunday, so school restarts on the Monday after the last date. The autumn breaks are over, but they stay in the table so that it covers the whole school year.

The dates bind the schools listed in the regulation that sets them: primary, special and secondary schools under the Dutch education acts. Mbo colleges, universities of applied sciences and universities set their own. International and foreign schools that the education minister designates under the Compulsory Education Act are not on that list, so if your child goes to an international school, check that school’s own calendar.

Which region is your child’s school in?

Under the same regulation, a school’s location decides its region. Where you live does not. The official region list goes municipality by municipality, and in a few places village by village.

These provinces are entirely in one region:

• Noord: Drenthe, Friesland, Groningen, Noord-Holland and Overijssel, including Amsterdam, the city of Groningen, Leeuwarden and Enschede.
• Midden: Zuid-Holland, so Rotterdam, The Hague and Leiden.
• Zuid: Limburg and Zeeland, so Maastricht and Middelburg.

These four are split:

• Flevoland is Noord, including Almere and Lelystad, except Zeewolde, which is Midden.
• Utrecht is Midden, including the city of Utrecht, except Eemnes and the former municipality of Abcoude, now part of De Ronde Venen, which are in Noord.
• Gelderland is split three ways: only Hattem is in Noord, Arnhem and Nijmegen are in Zuid, and Apeldoorn, Ede and Wageningen are in Midden.
• Noord-Brabant is Zuid, including Eindhoven, Tilburg and Breda. The exception is Altena: the regulation puts it in Midden, apart from its former municipality of Aalburg and the villages of Hank and Dussen, which are in Zuid. The government’s online list words this differently, and its Midden entry for Altena leaves out the Aalburg exception. The regulation is the legal text, so schools in the former Aalburg area are in Zuid. Check the dates in the school guide (schoolgids).

On Vlieland, Terschelling, Ameland and Schiermonnikoog the summer holiday lasts five weeks instead of six, starting on the same day as region Noord. In the Caribbean Netherlands, the summer holiday follows the region whose holiday starts and ends first, in 2027 Noord, and the other holidays are set locally.

Public holidays in term time

Schools are in principle closed on these national holidays: New Year’s Day, Easter Monday, King’s Day, Liberation Day, Ascension Day, Whit Monday, and Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Four of them fall in term time in 2026 to 2027, on these dates from the government’s list of public holidays:

• Easter Monday: Monday 29 March 2027
• Liberation Day: Wednesday 5 May 2027
• Ascension Day: Thursday 6 May 2027
• Whit Monday: Monday 17 May 2027

Good Friday is different. It is on that same government list (Friday 26 March 2027), but it is not one of the days schools close. Schools may give all pupils other days off, for example Good Friday or Eid al-Fitr (Suikerfeest), and some close on the Friday after Ascension Day. The school guide lists these days.

Which dates are fixed and which are advice

Three holidays are compulsory for primary and secondary schools: two weeks at Christmas, one week in May and six weeks in summer. The regulation fixes the Christmas and May dates for all schools outside the Caribbean Netherlands and the summer dates for each region. It leaves a little room, for example letting primary and special schools add up to two days at each end of the summer holiday. Beyond the exceptions it lists, a school can only move these dates with the education minister’s permission, which the regulation allows only in special circumstances. Schools can also add a week to the May holiday; the ministry’s advisory dates for it are 1 to 9 May 2027, which take in Liberation Day and Ascension Day.

For the autumn and spring breaks, the ministry publishes only advisory dates (adviesdata). Schools may choose different weeks without asking the ministry, for example to line the spring break up with carnival, as long as the school’s participation council, the medezeggenschapsraad, agrees. For 2026 to 2027 the ministry notes that region Zuid’s advisory spring dates do not coincide with carnival, so schools in the south may pick another week. Carnival itself is not a reason for leave: your child gets no exemption from compulsory schooling for it.

So the table is the starting point. The government’s overview points you to the school guide or website for your school’s own dates, and that is also where you find the exact first and last day of summer.

Taking your child out of school in term time

For a holiday, the answer is almost always no. Most children start school at four, but compulsory schooling begins on the first day of the month after their fifth birthday, and it applies to every child living in the Netherlands, whatever their nationality. From then on you may not take your child on holiday outside the school holidays, and you can be fined if you do.

Holiday leave because of your work

The one exception is your job. Your child only gets holiday leave if the specific nature of your work stops the family going away in any school holiday that school year. The government’s examples are when you:

• have seasonal work, for example in tourism or agriculture;
• face peak demand during the school holidays and cannot be replaced;
• are self-employed and would miss a large part of your income by going away during the school holidays.

No other reason qualifies. A funeral is a different kind of leave, covered below. If the exception applies, the rules are:

• Ask the director of the school (directeur) at least eight weeks before you go.
• The director can give up to ten days, once per school year, and the law allows no more.
• The leave cannot fall in the first two weeks after the summer holiday.
• Self-employed parents must be able to show they would miss a large part of their income, also called an unavoidable business risk (onoverkomelijk bedrijfseconomisch risico). Employees, for example seasonal workers, can hand in a statement from their employer.

If you disagree with the decision, you can tell the director so in writing.

Religious obligations

If your child has a religious or belief obligation on a day the school is open, an exemption from compulsory schooling is sometimes possible. The law sets one firm condition: you must tell the head of the school at least two days before the absence, or it cannot be excused on these grounds.

Leave for a funeral, wedding or other special event

You can ask the school director for time off for a special event that is outside your or your child’s control and cannot take place at another time, such as a funeral. The formal term is gewichtige omstandigheid. A wedding is also on the government’s list of examples of excused absence; you ask the director in the same way. The law adds two rules. If you did not ask beforehand, the director can still grant leave if you give the reasons within two days of the absence starting. For more than 10 days in a school year, you apply to the attendance officer (leerplichtambtenaar) of your child’s home municipality, who decides after hearing the school’s head.

Planning around the dates

Christmas and May are the same in all three regions, and the three regions’ summer holidays overlap for four weeks so that families with children in different regions can go away together. In 2027 that shared stretch runs from 24 July to 22 August.

The dates for 2027 to 2028 are already published and fall in different weeks, so do not reuse this table next year.

Common questions

When does the 2027 summer holiday start?
10 July in Noord, 17 July in Midden and 24 July in Zuid. It ends on 22 August, 29 August and 5 September 2027 respectively. On Vlieland, Terschelling, Ameland and Schiermonnikoog it lasts five weeks, starting 10 July. Primary schools may add up to two days at either end, so confirm the exact days with your school.

Is Amsterdam in region Noord or Midden?
Noord, like the rest of Noord-Holland. Schools in Rotterdam, The Hague and the city of Utrecht are in Midden.