Two-week half terms: The school holiday no one can agree on

Samantha Buckland is bracing herself for a tough fortnight. The single mum lives in Reigate, Surrey, and her seven-year-old son goes to a state school that has just introduced a two-week half term.

Buckland has two jobs: teaching medical students at a hospital in Brighton and working at a vintage shop in her home town. The 45-year-old receives universal credit and is worried about the cost of looking after her son while school is closed.

"What I'm trying to do is find out who I can get childcare from and work around that," she says. "I'd like to work, I need money. It's not cheap to live these days."

But money isn't Buckland's only concern. She's also trying to piece together the patchwork of childcare needed to cover the break.

There's a local holiday club, but it's only running for one of the two weeks, which Buckland says "parents are up in arms about". She'll also have to work at the hospital some days.

As a result, she's considering asking family to help, or even going to stay with a fellow mum so they can take turns with the kids.

Most councils in England still favour the traditional one-week half term, according to the website School Term Dates, but several local authorities have opted for a fortnight in 2026/27 - including Nottinghamshire, Bromley and the Isle of Wight.

The BBC spoke to many parents for this article and while some cited the advantages of a longer mid-term break - cheaper holidays and their children's educational wellbeing - others said they would struggle with childcare and that it placed too much strain on the family, especially coming so soon after long summer holidays.

Local authorities don't determine term dates for all schools in their area. For example, academies and faith schools can often set their own. But those schools with the freedom to choose may still decide to follow suit.

Education is a devolved power in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland - with differing academic calendars in each nation. Wales shelved plans to adopt a two-week autumn half term in 2024, while there are some schools in Scotland and Northern Ireland that have introduced the longer break.

Surrey County Council switched to two weeks this year, but then decided to return to one week next year after head teachers expressed worries about the impact. Most schools that bring in a longer half term will shorten the summer holidays in turn.

The number of pupils in England attending academies has grown rapidly in the past decade, according to Department for Education data published in June 2026. Indeed, 60.4% of all pupils now attend an academy.

As academies spread, the school calendar is becoming increasingly fragmented - creating fresh challenges for parents.

Alistair Pringle, 42, lives in Washington in Tyne and Wear with his wife, a teacher, and two children aged 11 and six. His eldest has just started at a secondary academy with a two-week half term, while his youngest goes to a primary academy with a one-week half term.

"This is the first time we've had to deal with different half terms," Pringle says. His children and wife will be off together for the first week. His eldest then has a second week off, but by then the others will have returned to class.

Pringle works full-time in marketing - often in the office - but is fortunate his employer "can accommodate it if I need to work from home".

"The thing that concerns me is not so much the childcare, it's the fact that I have to work," he says. "Yes, my eldest would be at home and she'd be looked after, but what's she getting out of that second week?"

Parents paid by the hour and those in less flexible jobs, such as those working unsociable or set hours, or in specific locations like hospitals or shops, told BBC News two-week half terms could be particularly challenging.

Annual leave is also a big issue. Full-time workers should get at least 28 days' paid annual leave per year, but this is well below the average amount of school holiday.

Workers are entitled to take up to 18 weeks' unpaid parental leave for each child up to their 18th birthday. They can't take more than four weeks in a single year, however, and the cost of taking time off makes it an unrealistic option for many.

But a two-week break can work well for parents, depending on their circumstances, often allowing families to take a cheaper holiday rather than paying over the odds in peak season.

Fay Harding is a fan. The 43-year-old lives in Nottingham with her husband, a teacher at a local authority-run school, and three children at academies. Because her husband and children all go to schools with two-week half terms and are all off at the same time, she says "we don't have to worry about additional childcare costs".

Harding's family is planning to spend the first week visiting family in Wales, then she'll work the second week while her husband looks after the children.

"It also gives us the opportunity to have two weeks away," she says. "We don't have to pay premium prices in the summer."

Lucy Walker-Etchells, 40, is a teacher at Dixons Brooklands Academy in south Manchester. Her school has a two-week half term, but for the majority of her teaching career she's had one week.

"I definitely much prefer two weeks," Walker-Etchells says. "Most teachers would agree because autumn is an intense term. It's really nice to have two weeks to recharge and come back feeling refreshed."

Moving a week's holiday from the summer to the autumn half term could benefit pupils too, she believes.

"Sometimes, vulnerable students really struggle being off for so long over the six-week holiday if they're in difficult circumstances," she says. "That's a long time out of structure, so I don't think it's a bad thing to break up the summer holidays."

Unity Schools Partnership runs 40 primary, secondary and special schools across the east of England. The trust introduced a two-week half term in autumn 2023 and asked parents and staff how they felt about the switch the following year.

Their consultation found 58% of parents were in favour of the two-week break, with the remainder against. Strikingly, 89% of staff supported it.

"It's cited as a reason why they would stay with us as an employer, which helps us build quality in schools," says Dominic Norrish, Unity's chief executive.

He adds that the number of days lost to staff sickness absence has fallen by 16% since the two-week half term was brought in. "People are getting ill less frequently because they've got longer to recover between half terms," he reflects.

Ultimately, getting the best teachers in front of pupils more regularly means "children will receive a better education in the autumn term".

Even if two-week half terms are becoming more common, how parents feel about them may depend largely on their own circumstances. Factors like whether they can afford or even find suitable childcare, or whether they can take advantage of holidays outside the traditional summer peak, seem to be key.

Buckland in Reigate believes there are pros and cons. She acknowledges two weeks may help her son, giving him more time to recover rather than "going full pelt with just a week off in the middle of that long autumn term", but worries how she'll get through half term herself as a working parent.

"They might be good for children," Buckland says, "they're just not good in terms of trying to find childcare."