Queensland · government schools
No — Queensland government schools are in Term 3.
Tuesday 8 September 2026. Term 3 runs to Fri 18 Sep.
Queensland counts a school holiday from the Saturday after term ends to the Sunday before it resumes, so its own figures are longer than most — and its Term 4 finishes earlier than anywhere else.
Saturday
19September 2026
Spring holidays begin
in 11 days- Last day of this term
- Fri 18 Sep
- Length of the next break
- 17 daysLast day of school to first day back
- Breaks left in 2026
- 2
- Applies to
- Government schoolsCatholic and independent set their own
Whose school holidays are these?
The department's calendar is not everybody's calendar
These are the dates for Queensland STATE schools. Catholic and independent schools set their own, and in Queensland the differences are often larger than elsewhere. Check your own school.
That is why a search for your state's school holidays turns up your state's education department, an independent schools association and somebody's individual school, all with slightly different dates. None of them is wrong. They are answering for different schools.
- Government schools — The dates in the tables on this page, set by the department.
- Catholic systemic schools — Catholic systemic schools are close to the government dates but not bound by them — dioceses set their own staff development days, and start and finish days can move by a day or two. Check your diocese or your school.
- Independent schools — Independent schools set their own calendar entirely. In practice most start a little earlier and finish a little earlier than the government dates, and their terms can be a few days shorter at each end. The only reliable source is your own school’s published calendar.
2026 at a glance
The school year on one screen: term breaks shaded, public holidays filled, today ringed. This is the view worth printing for the fridge.
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
QLD school holidays in 2026
Measured the way a parent measures it: from the last day your child is at school to the first day they go back. The department publishes its own, narrower figure too, and both are shown.
| Break | Last day | Back at school | Days off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Autumn holidays | Thu 2 Apr | Mon 20 Apr | 17 |
| Winter holidays | Fri 26 Jun | Mon 13 Jul | 16 |
| Spring holidays | Fri 18 Sep | Tue 6 Oct | 17 |
| Summer holidays | Fri 11 Dec | Wed 27 Jan | 46 |
What the department itself publishes
The same breaks, counted the department's way. Where this is shorter than the table above, the difference is public holidays and staff days that sit inside the break.
| Period | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| Autumn | Fri 3 Apr | Sun 19 Apr |
| Winter | Sat 27 Jun | Sun 12 Jul |
| Spring | Sat 19 Sep | Mon 5 Oct |
| Summer | Sat 12 Dec | Tue 26 Jan |
Term dates
| Term | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Term 1 | Tue 27 Jan – Thu 2 Apr | Wed 27 Jan – Thu 25 Mar |
| Term 2 | Mon 20 Apr – Fri 26 Jun | Mon 12 Apr – Fri 25 Jun |
| Term 3 | Mon 13 Jul – Fri 18 Sep | Mon 12 Jul – Fri 17 Sep |
| Term 4 | Tue 6 Oct – Fri 11 Dec | Tue 5 Oct – Fri 10 Dec |
The catches in QLD's calendar
Things the dates alone do not tell you
- Queensland counts a holiday period from the Saturday after term ends to the Sunday before it resumes — so its own figures include the weekends at both ends.
- Staff professional development days sit inside the published holiday periods; students do not attend on those days either.
Public holidays during the QLD school year
Term time has public holidays in it too, and they are not the same days as the school breaks — see public holidays in QLD, where every date is checked against Holidays Act 1983 (Qld).
Frequently asked questions
Why does Queensland say the autumn holidays are 17 days?
Because it counts the weekends at both ends. The department publishes each break from the Saturday after the last school day to the Sunday before students return, which for the 2026 autumn break gives 3 to 19 April — seventeen days.
New South Wales counts the same kind of break as weekdays only and would call it eleven. Neither is wrong. If you are comparing two states’ holiday lengths, make sure you are comparing the same measurement, because most sites do not say which one they are using.
When does the Queensland school year finish?
Earlier than the southern states. Term 4 ends on 11 December in 2026 and 10 December in 2027, where New South Wales and Victoria run to the 17th or 18th.
That gives Queensland families close to a week of head start on the summer break, and it is worth knowing if you are booking flights or accommodation against school holidays in more than one state — the Queensland surge starts first.
Do staff development days come out of the holidays?
They sit inside them. Queensland schedules professional development days within the published holiday periods, which is why the department lists them separately — two days at the start of the year, two more in April, one in September.
For a parent the practical effect is nil: children are not at school on those days either. For anyone planning around teacher availability, they are the days the school is open and the students are not.
Verified
Term dates from Queensland Department of Education, checked . Built for. These are government school dates — confirm with your own school before you book anything.