Warrington's half term is 26 to 30 October and schools break up for Christmas on 18 December. Birchwood is off two weeks; four high schools return on 5 January.
Warrington Borough Council’s recommended school year for 2026/27 runs from Wednesday 2 September 2026 to Wednesday 21 July 2027, with the October half term on Monday 26 to Friday 30 October and the Christmas break from Monday 21 December to Friday 1 January. Most of the borough’s schools follow those dates. The catch is the INSET days, which every school sets for itself, and which turn one school’s half term into a fortnight and push another’s return from Christmas back to Wednesday 6 January.
The quick answer
- October half term: Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026 at every school we checked. Birchwood Community High adds a full week of INSET before it, so its pupils are off from Monday 19 October. Sir Thomas Boteler finishes on Thursday 22 October, Priestley College on Wednesday 21 October, and Lymm High has INSET on Thursday 8 and Friday 9 October.
- Christmas: every school we checked breaks up on Friday 18 December. The return varies: Monday 4 January for the council, Bridgewater, Boteler and Priestley; Tuesday 5 January for Lymm, Great Sankey, St Gregory’s and Birchwood; Wednesday 6 January for Culcheth.
- February half term: Monday 15 to Friday 19 February 2027. Easter: schools close on Thursday 25 March and reopen on Monday 12 April.
The council’s dates are on its school holiday dates page, which was last updated on 21 September 2026. It says plainly that “some voluntary-aided and academy schools may differ” and that everyone should “check their individual school websites”. We did that for the borough’s largest secondary schools and the sixth form college, and the differences are set out below. All dates were checked on 25 September 2026.
The council’s dates for 2026/27
These are the dates Warrington Borough Council recommends. They add up to 195 days, which is the teachers’ year; pupils attend 190, so every school still has five INSET days to place.
| Term | Opens | Closes | Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Autumn, first half | Wednesday 2 September 2026 | Friday 23 October 2026 | 39 |
| Autumn, second half | Monday 2 November 2026 | Friday 18 December 2026 | 35 |
| Spring, first half | Monday 4 January 2027 | Friday 12 February 2027 | 30 |
| Spring, second half | Monday 22 February 2027 | Thursday 25 March 2027 | 24 |
| Summer, first half | Monday 12 April 2027 | Friday 28 May 2027 | 34 |
| Summer, second half | Monday 7 June 2027 | Wednesday 21 July 2027 | 33 |
Easter 2027 is early: Good Friday is 26 March and Easter Monday 29 March, so the bank holidays fall at the start of the two-week break rather than in the middle of it. The early May bank holiday is Monday 3 May 2027 and the spring bank holiday, Monday 31 May, sits inside the half term.
School by school: where the dates differ
The high schools publish their own calendars, and the INSET days are where they part company with the council. This table shows the days that matter most to parents: the last day before each break and the first day back.
| School | First day for pupils | October break | Back after Christmas | Published INSET days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Council recommendation | Wed 2 September | 26 to 30 October | Mon 4 January | Set by each school |
| Birchwood Community High | Tue 1 September | 19 to 30 October (two weeks) | Tue 5 January | 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 October; 4 January |
| Bridgewater High | Thu 3 September | 26 to 30 October | Mon 4 January | 1, 2 September; 20 November; 2 July |
| Culcheth High | Thu 3 September | 26 to 30 October | Wed 6 January | Not itemised; term dates imply 1, 2 September and 4, 5 January |
| Great Sankey High | Wed 2 September (Years 7, 11, 13); Thu 3 September (others) | 26 to 30 October | Tue 5 January | 1 September; 4 January; 19, 20, 21 July |
| Lymm High | Wed 2 September | 26 to 30 October, plus 8, 9 October and 2 November | Tue 5 January | 1 September; 8, 9 October; 4 January |
| Sir Thomas Boteler | Thu 3 September | 23 to 30 October | Mon 4 January | 1, 2 September; 23 October; 20 January; 2 July |
| St Gregory's Catholic High | Thu 3 September | 26 October to 2 November | Tue 5 January | 1, 2 September; 2 November; 4 January; 21 July |
| Priestley College | Thu 3 September (first years); Mon 7 September (second years) | 22 to 30 October | Mon 4 January | Not published as INSET; college closes 4pm on 21 October |
A few of those rows need a word of explanation.
Birchwood Community High School is the outlier. Its published calendar shades the whole of 19 to 23 October as “Inset Day for Teaching Staff, school closed for students” and then 26 to 30 October as the holiday, which gives its pupils a two-week October break, 19 to 30 October (Birchwood Community High School term dates PDF). The same calendar marks a further INSET day on Monday 4 January and a note that an “independent learning day”, when students work from home via Teams, is still to be confirmed.
Lymm High School takes its INSET days in the middle of a half term rather than at the ends: Thursday 8 and Friday 9 October are staff days, giving pupils a long weekend a fortnight before half term. Its calendar also shades Monday 2 November as a holiday, so pupils go back on Tuesday 3 November, and it closes early at 12.15pm on Friday 18 December and Wednesday 21 July (Lymm High School term dates PDF).
St Gregory’s Catholic High School takes Monday 2 November as INSET, so its half term runs to Tuesday 3 November, and its summer term ends a day early on Tuesday 20 July with an INSET on the 21st (St Gregory’s term dates).
Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School finishes for half term on Thursday 22 October and uses Friday 23 October as INSET. It also has a mid-term INSET on Wednesday 20 January 2027 (Sir Thomas Boteler term dates).
Bridgewater High School has a Friday INSET on 20 November and another on 2 July, and its summer term ends on Tuesday 20 July, a day before the council’s date (Bridgewater High School term dates).
Great Sankey High School staggers its September start by year group, puts three INSET days at the very end of the year on 19, 20 and 21 July, and had not printed its summer term dates when we checked (Great Sankey High School term dates).
Culcheth High School publishes its holiday dates as term blocks without naming INSET days. Its spring term starts on Wednesday 6 January, the latest return in the borough (Culcheth High School holiday dates).
Priestley College closes at 4pm on Wednesday 21 October for half term, a day and a half before the schools, and its students’ year ends on Friday 9 July, with the last face-to-face lessons on Thursday 1 July (Priestley College term dates).
Two schools could not be included. Penketh High School and Padgate Academy each had only their 2027/28 calendar on their term dates pages when we looked, so check with the school directly for this year.
Primary schools
The council’s list of primary schools links to each school’s own website, and the great majority of community primaries follow the council dates exactly. The five INSET days still vary, and a primary’s INSET day is often the Friday before half term or the Monday after it. Check your school’s calendar before booking anything for 23 October or 2 November.
2027/28: the council’s dates are already out
The council has published its recommended dates for the following year too. The autumn term starts on Thursday 2 September 2027 after an INSET day on Wednesday 1 September, half term is 25 to 29 October 2027, schools break up for Christmas on Friday 17 December 2027 and return on Tuesday 4 January 2028. Easter 2028 is late, 14 to 17 April, and falls at the end of the spring break. Bridgewater, Boteler and Penketh have already published matching 2027/28 calendars.
What to check next
Schools sometimes move an INSET day after publishing, and Lymm High’s own calendar carries the warning that “these dates can be subject to change”. We will check every school’s page again in early January, before the spring term, and again in June for the 2027/28 INSET days. For what is on in Warrington during the October break, see our October half term in Warrington page.
Sources: Warrington Borough Council school holiday dates; term dates pages and PDFs of Birchwood Community High, Bridgewater High, Culcheth High, Great Sankey High, Lymm High, Sir Thomas Boteler, St Gregory’s Catholic High, Priestley College, Penketh High and Padgate Academy. Checked 25 September 2026.
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