Guides · Admissions and the school year
Dubai school calendar 2026–27: term dates, breaks and holidays
Every Dubai private school must keep the start, end and break dates of the approved academic calendar KHDA publishes, with at least 185 school days (182 where the year starts in April). Here are the dates in the 221 schools’ 2026–27 calendars, and where to check your own.
KHDA calendars, read 18 September 2026.
The dates most schools keep · 2026–27
- First day31 Aug 2026
- Winter break14 Dec 2026 – 1 Jan 2027
- Spring break5–9 Apr 2027
- Last day2 Jul 2027
Each date: 184 of 221 schools
37 schools, mostly Indian curriculum, run April to March: see the second calendar. Every school’s own KHDA calendar is on its profile page under Calendar.
The year at a glance
Two school years run side by side: the first table is for the 184 schools that start at the end of August, the second for the 37 that start in April. The counts show how many schools keep each date; your school’s calendar is the rule.
Schools starting 31 August 2026184 of 221 schools with a calendar
| Term or break | Dates most schools keep | Schools |
|---|---|---|
| Autumn term31 Aug – 11 Dec 2026 | 31 Aug – 11 Dec 2026 | 184 of 221 |
| First midterm break12–16 Oct 2026 | 12–16 Oct 2026 | 151 of 172 |
| Winter break14 Dec 2026 – 1 Jan 2027 | 14 Dec 2026 – 1 Jan 2027 | 184 of 221 |
| Spring term4 Jan – 2 Apr 2027 | 4 Jan – 2 Apr 2027 | set by the breaks |
| Second midterm breakFeb 2027 | Feb 2027 | 22, dates vary |
| Spring break5–9 Apr 2027 | 5–9 Apr 2027 | 184 of 221 |
| Summer term12 Apr – 2 Jul 2027 | 12 Apr – 2 Jul 2027 | 184 of 221 |
How this is worked out
Term ends are the last school day before each break. The Ministry of Education calendar starts Term 2 on «04 January 2027» and Term 3 on «12 April 2027». Public holidays are under «Public holidays» below.
Schools starting 6 April 202637 of 221 · mostly Indian curriculum
| Term or break | Dates most schools keep | Schools |
|---|---|---|
| First day6 Apr 2026 | 6 Apr 2026 | 36 of 37 |
| Summer break6 Jul – 28 Aug 2026 | 6 Jul – 28 Aug 2026 | 36 of 37 |
| Winter break14 Dec 2026 – 2 Jan 2027 | 14 Dec 2026 – 2 Jan 2027 | 36 of 37 |
| Last day19 Mar 2027 | 19 Mar 2027 | 19 of 37 |
| Next year startsApr 2027 | Apr 2027 | 2027–28 calendars |
How this is worked out
Last days run from 5 Mar to 25 Mar 2027. The April schools’ spring break falls in their new school year, so it is not shown here.
Source
The full breakdown, with the length of every break and how the dates are counted: School calendar in Market Statistics.
Two school years in one city
The 184 August-start schools follow the British, American, IB, French and Ministry of Education curricula, among others. The 37 April-start schools are the Indian- and Pakistani-curriculum schools with a calendar, together with the one Japanese-curriculum school. They follow the Indian school year, April to March, with a summer break from 6 July to 28 August 2026.
For a family this matters twice. A child in a CBSE school and a child in a British school live by two calendars, with different first and last days, though their summer breaks almost coincide. And a move in spring lands at the start of the year in one kind of school and two-thirds of the way through it in the other.
Term by term for August-start schools
Autumn term: 31 August to 11 December 2026
The year opens on Monday 31 August 2026 at all 184 August-start schools. Most take a midterm break on 12 to 16 October 2026: 151 of the 172 schools that list one use those dates, and the others take between 1 and 7 days around them.
No October break appears in 12 of the August-start calendars, so check your school’s before you book a trip that week.
Winter break: 14 December 2026 to 1 January 2027
Schools close on Friday 11 December 2026 and reopen on Monday 4 January 2027. 184 of the 221 schools with a calendar keep exactly these dates, which match the Ministry’s students’ break, «14 December - 01 January 2027».
Spring term: 4 January to 2 April 2027
The longest stretch of the year. 22 schools take a second midterm break in February, on different dates: 7 on 8 to 9 February 2027, 7 on 11 to 12 February 2027, the rest on others. Eid Al-Fitr falls in this term; see «Public holidays».
Spring break: 5 to 9 April 2027
One week at 184 schools; the Ministry calendar gives the same «05 - 09 April 2027». Term 3 starts on Monday 12 April 2027.
Summer term: 12 April to 2 July 2027
The last day for students is Friday 2 July 2027 at all 184 August-start schools, the date the Ministry calendar gives as «Last Day of the Academic Year for Students». KHDA sets a minimum of 185 school days for these schools; their calendars show 185 to 187.
Days a school adds on its own
38 schools add between 1 and 5 holidays of their own, often next to a public holiday or for staff training. These appear only on the school’s own calendar.
Public holidays: expected dates
Public holidays appear in every KHDA calendar, but the religious ones depend on the sighting of the moon and are confirmed by the UAE government close to the day. Treat the dates below as expected, and let the school’s own notice decide.
KHDA requires all Dubai private schools to abide by the approved academic calendar’s start, end and break dates; the Ministry of Education’s Academic Calendar 2026–2027 prints the national holiday ranges. Where a KHDA calendar prints a different date, both are shown.
Public holidays, 2026–27School days only in KHDA’s calendars; religious holidays follow the moon sighting, so the dates are expected, not fixed
| Holiday | Ministry of Education calendaras printed, includes weekends | KHDA school calendarsschool days only · expected |
|---|---|---|
| Prophet’s BirthdayMinistry: «28 August 2026» (before students start)KHDA: 25 Aug 2026 in the April schools’ calendars | «28 August 2026» (before students start) | 25 Aug 2026 in the April schools’ calendars |
| UAE National DayMinistry: «02 - 04 December 2026»KHDA: 2–3 Dec 2026 | «02 - 04 December 2026» | 2–3 Dec 2026 |
| New Year’s DayMinistry: inside the winter breakKHDA: 1 Jan 2027, inside the winter break | inside the winter break | 1 Jan 2027, inside the winter break |
| Eid Al-FitrMinistry: «08 -12 March 2027»KHDA: 8–11 Mar 2027 | «08 -12 March 2027» | 8–11 Mar 2027 |
| Eid Al-AdhaMinistry: «15 - 18 May 2027»KHDA: 17–18 May 2027 (15–16 May is the weekend) | «15 - 18 May 2027» | 17–18 May 2027 (15–16 May is the weekend) |
| Hijri New YearMinistry: «06 June 2027»KHDA: not in the 2026–27 calendars | «06 June 2027» | not in the 2026–27 calendars |
How this is worked out
The Ministry ranges include the weekend days; the KHDA calendars list school days only. A school may add a day of its own next to a holiday.
Joining a school mid-year
Families new to Dubai often arrive between terms. The school year does not restart for a new child, so the question is which term the child joins and which year group that is.
Arriving in January
Term 2 · from Monday 4 January 2027
- Which year group
- The one set by age on 31 December, the same as in September.
- The gap
- A mid-December arrival means two to three weeks without school: 184 schools are closed from 14 December 2026 to 1 January 2027.
Arriving in April
Term 3 · from Monday 12 April 2027
- August-start schools
- Term 3 begins on 12 April 2027, after the spring break: the last and shortest term.
- April-start schools
- 37 schools begin a new year in early April, so a child joins at the start; age is counted on 31 March.
Arriving in summer
Between school years
- August-start schools
- Closed from 2 July 2027; the 2027–28 dates come with next year’s KHDA calendars.
- April-start schools
- Their 2026 summer break ran from 6 July to 28 August, then they returned mid-way through their year.
What to have ready
Admission is each school’s own process, so timing varies. Schools ask for the previous school’s transfer certificate and reports where the child has already been at school, and place the child by KHDA’s year-group rules; the steps and documents are in Applying to a Dubai school.
Your school’s own calendar
Every one of the 221 schools with a KHDA calendar has its 2026–27 calendar on KHDA, and this site shows it on the school’s profile page under Calendar, with the first and last day, the school days and each break.
KHDA has published no 2026–27 calendar for 7 schools. For those, ask the school’s front office; the profile says when KHDA has none.
Dates can change during the year. This site reads KHDA’s calendars as of 18 September 2026, and a school’s own notice to parents always takes precedence over any list, including this one.
Sources
- KHDA school calendars 2026–27One calendar per school, as KHDA publishes them; 221 of the 228 schools in the register have one. Read on 18 September 2026; summarised, with how the dates are counted, on School calendar in Market Statistics.
- KHDA, Academic calendar for Dubai private schools (opens in a new tab)«all private schools in Dubai must abide by the dates specified in the approved academic calendar»: the start and end of the year and the winter, spring and summer breaks, with a minimum of 185 school days (182 for schools starting in April). Page last updated 1 May 2026.
- UAE Ministry of Education, Academic Calendar 2026–2027 (PDF) (opens in a new tab)«For public and private schools following the UAE Ministry of Education curriculum». Term starts, breaks, the last day, 185 school days and the public-holiday ranges quoted above.
- KHDA, Student Placement Guidelines, FAQs (Parents) (PDF) (opens in a new tab)The two age cut-off dates: 31 December for September-start and 31 March for April-start schools.
Every sentence in quotation marks on this page was checked word for word against its document on 10 October 2026.