QLD School Calendar 2026-2027: Complete Term Dates, School Holidays and Key Facts

The QLD school calendar 2026-2027 sets four school terms, three types of holiday breaks, and staff professional development days for every Queensland state school, as published by the Department of Education.

As of Saturday, July 18, 2026, Queensland state schools are six days into Term 3 2026, which began on Monday, July 13, 2026, and runs until Friday, September 18, 2026.

This guide covers every term date, holiday period, and planning detail for the 2026 and 2027 school years, based on the Queensland Government’s official calendar.

What Is the QLD School Calendar 2026-2027?

The QLD school calendar 2026-2027 divides the school year into four terms of approximately 10 weeks each, running from Tuesday, January 27, 2026, to Friday, December 10, 2027, separated by Easter, Winter, Spring, and Summer holiday breaks.

The calendar applies to Queensland state schools only. It does not govern Catholic or independent school dates directly, though most non-government schools in Queensland base their calendars closely on the state schedule.

Queensland state schools operate on 40 instructional weeks per year, with a 41-week year occurring on a cyclical basis in rare instances. The school year runs on a two-semester structure: Semester 1 covers Terms 1 and 2, and Semester 2 covers Terms 3 and 4.

QLD School Calendar 2026: Term Dates at a Glance

The table below lists the confirmed start and end dates for all four terms of the QLD school calendar 2026, based on the Queensland Department of Education’s official term-date schedule.

Each term is deliberately balanced to average 10 weeks, avoiding the unusually long terms that occurred under older Queensland calendars.

Term 1 2026 in the QLD School Calendar

Term 1 2026 begins Tuesday, January 27, 2026, and ends Thursday, April 2, 2026, covering 10 weeks of instruction. The following school holiday period runs from Friday, April 3, 2026, to Sunday, April 19, 2026 — 17 days.

This break begins on Good Friday itself, meaning the Easter public holidays (Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday, and Easter Monday, spanning April 3 to April 6, 2026) fall entirely inside the term break rather than adjacent to it.

This detail matters for leave planning: families do not need to take separate annual leave around Easter in 2026, since the school holiday already absorbs the entire long weekend.

QLD School Calendar Staff Professional Development Days — Term 1 2026

Staff professional development days for Term 1 2026 fall on Thursday, January 22, 2026, and Friday, January 23, 2026 — two non-student-attendance days immediately before students return on Tuesday, January 27, 2026.

Term 2 2026

Term 2 2026 runs from Monday, April 20, 2026, to Friday, June 26, 2026, a further 10-week term. Staff professional development days occur on Thursday, April 16, 2026, and Friday, April 17, 2026, before the term begins.

Labour Day, Monday, May 4, 2026, falls within this term as a single-day public holiday and does not extend into a school break. The following Winter holiday period runs from Saturday, June 27, 2026, to Sunday, July 12, 2026 — 16 days.

Term 3 2026 in the QLD School Calendar

Term 3 2026, the current term as of this writing, began Monday, July 13, 2026, and finishes Friday, September 18, 2026. A single staff professional development day falls on Friday, September 4, 2026.

The Royal Queensland Show (Ekka) holiday, observed on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, applies to the Brisbane area only and falls within this term without disrupting the overall term structure.

The Ekka public holiday is a Brisbane-only entitlement rather than a statewide one. The following Spring holiday period runs from Saturday, September 19, 2026, to Monday, October 5, 2026 — 17 days.

This break concludes on King’s Birthday, Monday, October 5, 2026, meaning the public holiday forms the final day of the school break rather than a separate long weekend, since Term 4 does not begin until the next day.

Term 4 2026

Term 4 2026 begins Tuesday, October 6, 2026, and ends Friday, December 11, 2026. No staff professional development days are listed for this term in the official calendar.

The following Summer holiday period, the longest of the year, runs from Saturday, December 12, 2026, to Tuesday, January 26, 2027 — 46 days, spanning the Christmas and New Year period and ending on Australia Day, Tuesday, January 26, 2027.

QLD School Calendar 2027: Term Dates at a Glance

Term 1 2027 is shorter than average at 9 weeks, while Term 2 2027 compensates at 11 weeks — a pattern the Department of Education uses to keep the overall 40-week year consistent despite the shifting date of Easter and Anzac Day each year.

Term 1 2027

Term 1 2027 runs from Wednesday, January 27, 2027, to Thursday, March 25, 2027. Staff professional development days fall on three separate dates: Thursday, January 21, 2027; Friday, January 22, 2027; and Monday, January 25, 2027 — one more P&D day than in 2026. The following holiday period runs from Friday, March 26, 2027, to Sunday, April 11, 2027 — 17 days.

Term 2 2027

Term 2 2027 begins Monday, April 12, 2027, and ends Friday, June 25, 2027. Staff professional development days occur on Thursday, April 8, 2027, and Friday, April 9, 2027. The following Winter break runs from Saturday, June 26, 2027, to Sunday, July 11, 2027 — 16 days.

Term 3 2027

Term 3 2027 runs from Monday, July 12, 2027, to Friday, September 17, 2027. A single staff professional development day falls on Friday, September 3, 2027. The following Spring holiday period runs from Saturday, September 18, 2027, to Monday, October 4, 2027 — 17 days.

Term 4 2027

Term 4 2027 begins Tuesday, October 5, 2027, and ends Friday, December 10, 2027. The Summer holiday that follows is shorter than the 2026-2027 break at 44 days, running from Saturday, December 11, 2027, to Sunday, January 23, 2028.

QLD School Holidays 2026-2027 at a Glance

The following table consolidates every school holiday period in the QLD school calendar 2026-2027 for direct comparison.

Winter and Spring breaks stay nearly identical in length year over year, typically 16 to 17 days. The Summer break varies more, since it depends on where Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fall relative to the weekend.

Staff Professional Development Days in the QLD School Calendar

Staff professional development days, sometimes referred to informally as pupil-free days, are dates when teachers attend training but students do not attend class.

They are distinct from public holidays and from school holiday breaks. In the QLD school calendar 2026-2027, these days total five in 2026 (two in Term 1, two in Term 2, one in Term 3) and six in 2027 (three in Term 1, two in Term 2, one in Term 3).

No professional development days appear in Term 4 of either year in the official schedule. Parents typically need to arrange alternative supervision on these dates, since school premises remain open for staff but not for students.

Extended Summer Holiday: Schools North of 16°S Latitude

Some Queensland state schools receive a 7-week Summer holiday rather than the standard 6-week break, starting one week earlier than the rest of the state.

This extended break applies under two criteria: schools situated north of 16 degrees south latitude and west of 144 degrees east longitude, and schools located in a defined list of inland towns, including Longreach, Charleville, Cunnamulla, Blackall, and Barcaldine.

As of the most recent published list, 69 state schools with active student enrolments meet one of these two criteria, spanning the Far North Queensland, North Queensland, Central Queensland, and Darling Downs South West regions.

This extended-holiday provision does not apply to Queensland’s metropolitan and coastal state schools, including those in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, and the Sunshine Coast, all of which follow the standard term dates listed above without the additional week.

Year 10, 11, and 12 Finishing Dates in the QLD School Calendar

Finishing dates vary by year level in the QLD school calendar. Prep to Year 9 students in state schools, and all year levels in special schools, finish on the final day of Term 4 as listed above.

Years 10 and 11 typically finish two weeks before the end of Term 4, and occasionally three weeks before, depending on the specific school calendar.

Year 12 typically finishes three weeks before the end of Term 4, and occasionally four weeks before, under a calculation set out in the Education (Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority) Regulation 2014.

This regulation governs how the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority determines the exact senior finishing date each year to align with QCE and QCIA certification timelines.

Show Holidays in the QLD School Calendar

In addition to school holidays and public holidays, most Queensland schools close for one extra day each year, allocated as either an appointed local show holiday or a day off in lieu where no show holiday is appointed for that location.

School principals confirm the agreed date with the regional director following consultation with the local consultative committee, the school community, and neighboring schools.

Where a show holiday falls during a scheduled school holiday period, no additional day is allocated. The Royal Queensland Show (Ekka) holiday, observed on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, functions this way for the Brisbane area specifically rather than statewide.

Queensland Public Holidays That Overlap the School Calendar

Several statewide public holidays fall during Term 2, Term 3, and Term 4 of the 2026 school year without triggering a separate school closure, since they land on days school is not otherwise in session or fall as single non-break days.

Queensland’s 2026 public holidays include New Year’s Day on January 1, Australia Day on January 26, the Easter public holidays in April, Anzac Day on April 25, Labour Day on May 4, the Royal Queensland Show holiday for Brisbane on August 12, King’s Birthday on October 5, plus Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day.

As of 2023, the King’s Birthday public holiday replaced the former Queen’s Birthday holiday.

Anzac Day falls on a Saturday in 2026, and Queensland does not provide a substitute Monday holiday when this occurs.

Boxing Day falls on a Saturday in 2026, which triggers an additional public holiday on Monday, December 28, 2026, though this date falls within the Term 4 2026 Summer holiday break and does not affect the school calendar directly.

QLD School Calendar vs NSW School Calendar 2026

Queensland and New South Wales set independent school calendars, and the two states differ in start dates, term lengths, and Summer break duration.

The table below compares the two for the 2026 school year.

Queensland students return to school roughly one week earlier than New South Wales students in Term 1 2026, while New South Wales students finish Term 4 approximately six days later than Queensland students.

This typically means Queensland families gain a slightly longer Christmas break start but a shorter one at the return end, since the QLD Summer break runs 46 days against a comparatively shorter NSW break in the same period.

State, Catholic, and Independent School Calendars in Queensland

The QLD school calendar published by the Department of Education applies directly only to state schools. It does not set binding dates for Catholic Education Queensland schools or independent schools, which publish their own calendars separately.

Independent and Catholic schools in Queensland generally base their calendars on the same government schedule but may apply slight variations, most commonly in staff professional development day placement or in the exact date of minor breaks.

Parents with children at non-government Queensland schools should confirm exact dates directly with the individual school rather than relying solely on the state government calendar.

How to Download the QLD School Calendar

The Department of Education provides the QLD school calendar in downloadable iCalendar format for import into personal and family calendar apps.

1. Visit the Queensland Department of Education calendar section of education.qld.gov.au.
2. Locate the iCalendar (iCal) download link under the Calendar menu.
3. Download the .ics file for the relevant year.
4. Open your calendar application — Google Calendar, Outlook, or Apple Calendar.
5. Select the import or subscribe option and choose the downloaded .ics file.
6. Confirm the import to add all term dates, holiday breaks, and staff professional development days automatically.

This method avoids manual date entry errors and updates automatically if the department revises future-year dates.

Frequently Asked Questions About the QLD School Calendar