Learners across South Africa are counting down the hours until the end of Term 2 – and the start of the June-July school holidays.
Term 2 kicked off on 8 April with both inland and coastal schools reopening on the same date.
This uniform national start date continues a policy introduced in 2024, aimed at preventing delays to the academic year and protecting the total number of teaching days.
The term will end this Friday, 26 June.
Learners will then be on a break until Tuesday, 21 July when they will return to their desks for Term 3, which, at 46 school days, is the shortest of the year.
Academic Year
The 2026 school year is structured as follows:
- Term 1: 14 January – 27 March (53 days)
- Term 2: 8 April – 26 June (54 days)
- Term 3: 21 July – 23 September (46 days)
- Term 4: 6 October – 9 December (46 days)
In total, the calendar includes 199 school days, 28 school holidays, and six public holidays.
However, thanks to the public holiday declared for the Local Government Elections on Wednesday, 4 November, Term 4 will in fact also be 46 days long.
The next public holiday in South Africa is scheduled to be National Women’s Day on Sunday, 9 August.
Monday, 10 August will automatically therefore be a public holiday.
The Department of Basic Education reviews the school calendar annually to ensure there is no loss of teaching and learning days, providing a consistent framework for students and educators across the country.
