If you are a parent or teacher planning holidays, exams or staffing for 2026, use the published national school calendar. For 2026 the Department of Basic Education framed one schedule for all provinces — not separate inland and coastal clusters.
Dates below come from the official calendar published on gov.za and the DBE PDF. Always confirm on the live government pages before you book travel or print a school letter — calendars can be amended.
2026 term dates (national pattern)
| Term | Learners | Educators (where different) | Length (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 January – 27 March 2026 | Schools open for educators 12 January 2026 | 11 weeks (53 learner / 55 educator days) |
| 2 | 8 April – 26 June 2026 | Same as learners | 12 weeks (54 school days after holidays) |
| 3 | 21 July – 23 September 2026 | Same as learners | 10 weeks (46 school days) |
| 4 | 6 October – 9 December 2026 (learners) | Educators close 11 December 2026 | 10 weeks (47 learner / 49 educator days) |
Public and school holidays called out on the 2026 calendar
Including dates listed on the official / WCED calendar pages: 1 January; 21 March; 3 April (Good Friday); 6 April (Family Day); 27 April; 1 May; 15 June (special school holiday); 16 June; 9 August; 10 August (public holiday); 24 September; 16 December; 25–26 December.
Use your school’s letter for any local closing or reporting days that sit inside this national frame.
Official sources (confirm live)
- gov.za — School calendar (published 26 February 2025 for the 2026 year)
- DBE — Published 2026 School Calendar (PDF)
- Western Cape Education — School calendar (labelled Terms (All Provinces))
- KwaZulu-Natal Education — School calendar (links to 2026 calendar versions)
Western Cape schools that need the longer planning calendar (admin milestones) can open the WCED planning PDF linked from provincial pages: 2026 School Planning Calendar (ENG). Parents mainly need the term table above.
Inland vs coastal — what changed for 2026?
Older school-year patterns sometimes used different inland and coastal dates. The published 2026 calendar is presented as one national schedule for all provinces. This page therefore does not publish a separate Western Cape vs KZN inland/coastal split for 2026.
If your school still mentions cluster wording from older years, ask the principal or district which circular they are following — then match it to the live DBE / provincial calendar links above.
How parents and teachers can use this page
- Copy the term start and end dates into your family or staff planner.
- Cross-check public holidays before booking.
- Re-open the gov.za or provincial link in Term 3 and Term 4 in case of amendments.
- For Western Cape admissions windows (different from term dates), see the WCED admissions guide on CAPS123 once updated — admissions cycles are not the same as term calendars.
Related CAPS123 pages
- What is an acronym? — CAPS and education short forms
- CAPS terms glossary
Disclaimer
This article is an independent CAPS123 summary for parents and teachers. It is not an official DBE, WCED or KZN Education publication. Term dates and holidays can change — confirm on the live gov.za, education.gov.za, westerncape.gov.za or kzneducation.gov.za pages before you act.