North Ayrshire school term calendar for 2027/28 Includes reduced summer holiday

Families across North Ayrshire have made their voices heard as North Ayrshire Council officially confirmed its school term and holiday dates for the 2027/28 academic year.

​The newly-published calendar covers both mainland and Arran schools, mapping out exactly when classrooms will be open and when pupils can enjoy their well-earned breaks.

​Currently, North Ayrshire’s Education Service operates with two school holiday calendars - one for schools on the mainland and Cumbrae, and another for schools on Arran.

Consultation has taken place with key stakeholder groups to seek views on whether there should be one school holiday calendar for all North Ayrshire Council schools.

A total of 6,813 survey responses were received, with 62% of respondents agreeing it would be a good idea to have one set of school holidays for all schools, while 31% said this may be a good idea and 7% said this would not be a good idea.

In addition, 73% said that it would be a good idea to align school holiday calendars by moving to a two-week holiday period in October for all schools. 9% said that this may be a good idea and 18% said this would not be a good idea.

The results of this consultation were presented to a meeting of Cabinet on Tuesday, 2 June, and members agreed to move forward with the calendar changes, which will allow for a two-week October break across all North Ayrshire schools.

All schools across North Ayrshire will return from summer break a week earlier in August 2027 and move to an expanded two-week break in October.

The changes will take effect from August 2027 for the 2027/28 academic year. Holiday calendars have already been published for 2026/27 and these will be updated to reflect the earlier return date at the start of the following school year in August 2027.

​Councillor Margaret Johnson, Cabinet Member for Education and Young People, said: “First and foremost, I want to thank every person who took the time to participate in the consultation, with almost 7,000 responses received.

“It is a fantastic response, and we have acted upon the results received to move to a two-week break in October from summer 2027.

“A single holiday calendar will support the planning of key activities across the school year and ensure all school term dates, holidays, closure days and in-service days are aligned across all North Ayrshire schools and term-time early years settings.”

​The full breakdown of term dates, including all individual in-service days, will be available to view on the North Ayrshire Council website.