Wokingham's October half term is 26 to 30 October 2026 and the Christmas break starts 21 December. Eight big schools set their own; two finish on 11 December.
Wokingham Borough Council’s school year for 2026/27 runs from Tuesday 1 September 2026 to Wednesday 21 July 2027, with October half term on 26 to 30 October and the Christmas holiday from 21 December to 1 January. Those dates bind only the community and voluntary controlled schools. Every large secondary in the borough is an academy or an independent, and all eight of the calendars we checked depart from the council’s somewhere. The council also published its 2027/28 calendar on 24 September 2026, so next year’s dates are on this page too.
The quick answer
October half term is Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026 at the council’s schools, The Holt, The Emmbrook, The Piggott and Waingels. The Forest School takes two weeks, 26 October to 6 November. Luckley House and Reddam House take 19 to 30 October instead. The Christmas holiday starts Monday 21 December for most schools; Luckley House and Reddam House break up on Friday 11 December, a week early. Pupils are back on Monday 4 January 2027 at the council’s schools, but Emmbrook returns on 5 January and Waingels on 6 January because of training days.
Wokingham Borough Council term dates 2026/27
These are the dates the council has determined for its community and voluntary controlled schools, published as a term dates calendar and on its term dates page. The borough uses six terms.
| Term | Starts | Ends | School days | Holiday that follows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Term 1 | Tuesday 1 September 2026 (INSET day) | Friday 23 October 2026 | 39 | Mon 26 to Fri 30 October |
| Term 2 | Monday 2 November 2026 | Friday 18 December 2026 | 35 | Mon 21 December to Fri 1 January |
| Term 3 | Monday 4 January 2027 | Friday 12 February 2027 | 30 | Mon 15 to Fri 19 February |
| Term 4 | Monday 22 February 2027 | Thursday 25 March 2027 | 24 | Fri 26 March to Fri 9 April |
| Term 5 | Monday 12 April 2027 | Friday 28 May 2027 | 34 | Mon 31 May to Fri 4 June |
| Term 6 | Monday 7 June 2027 | Wednesday 21 July 2027 | 33 | Summer holiday |
That is 195 days. Five of them are INSET days: the council fixes the first, Tuesday 1 September, and each school chooses the other four and tells parents directly. Good Friday is 26 March 2027 and Easter Monday 29 March, both inside the spring holiday. The bank holidays inside the school year are Christmas Day (Friday 25 December), the substitute Boxing Day (Monday 28 December), New Year’s Day (Friday 1 January), the May Day holiday (Monday 3 May) and the spring bank holiday (Monday 31 May).
Term dates 2027/28, published 24 September 2026
The council’s 2027/28 calendar went up on its term dates page on 24 September 2026. The school year starts with an INSET day on Thursday 2 September 2027 and ends on Friday 21 July 2028. Christmas Day and Boxing Day both fall at a weekend in 2027, so the substitute bank holidays are Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December, and New Year’s Day is substituted on Monday 3 January 2028.
| Term | Starts | Ends | Holiday that follows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term 1 | Thursday 2 September 2027 (INSET day) | Friday 22 October 2027 | Mon 25 to Fri 29 October |
| Term 2 | Monday 1 November 2027 | Friday 17 December 2027 | Mon 20 December to Mon 3 January |
| Term 3 | Tuesday 4 January 2028 | Friday 11 February 2028 | Mon 14 to Fri 18 February |
| Term 4 | Monday 21 February 2028 | Friday 7 April 2028 | Mon 10 to Fri 21 April (Easter 14 to 17 April) |
| Term 5 | Monday 24 April 2028 | Friday 26 May 2028 | Mon 29 May to Fri 2 June |
| Term 6 | Monday 5 June 2028 | Friday 21 July 2028 | Summer holiday |
The 2027/28 Easter is late, so Term 4 runs seven weeks and the spring holiday falls in the second half of April. The Holt has already published its own 2027/28 dates and, as usual, finishes the summer term three days early, on Tuesday 18 July 2028.
The eight big schools, and where each one differs
Academies and independent schools set their own calendars. The council’s own page says so and tells parents to check with the school. We read each school’s published calendar on 25 September 2026; the table is the autumn term, which is where the differences bite.
| School | All pupils back | October break | Autumn term ends | Back in January |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Holt School, Wokingham | Mon 7 September (Years 7 and 12 on Fri 4) | Fri 23 October (wellbeing day) to Fri 30 October | Fri 18 December, 12.25pm | Mon 4 January |
| The Emmbrook School, Wokingham | Fri 4 September (Years 7 and 12 on Thu 3) | Mon 26 to Fri 30 October | Fri 18 December, 12.20pm | Tue 5 January |
| The Forest School, Winnersh | Thu 3 September (Years 7 and 12 on Wed 2) | Mon 26 October to Fri 6 November | Fri 18 December | Mon 4 January |
| Maiden Erlegh School, Earley | Mon 7 September | Mon 26 October to Mon 2 November | Fri 18 December | Mon 4 January |
| The Piggott School, Wargrave | Thu 3 September (Year 7 on Wed 2, Year 12 on Fri 4) | Thu 22 October (INSET) to Fri 30 October | Fri 18 December | Mon 4 January |
| Waingels, Woodley | Not stated on the calendar | Fri 23 October (INSET) to Mon 2 November (INSET) | Fri 18 December | Wed 6 January |
| Luckley House School, Wokingham | Mon 7 September | Mon 19 October to Fri 30 October | Fri 11 December, 4pm | Wed 6 January |
| Reddam House Berkshire, Wokingham | Fri 4 September | Mon 19 October to Fri 30 October | Fri 11 December, 2pm | Tue 5 January |
Sources: The Holt, The Emmbrook, The Forest, Maiden Erlegh, The Piggott, Waingels, Luckley House and Reddam House.
October: one week, two weeks, or a Thursday start
The Forest School is the outlier among the state schools. Its published half term is 26 October to 6 November, two full weeks, with pupils back on Monday 9 November. Maiden Erlegh gets to a similar place by a different route: its half term is the council’s week, then Monday 2 November is a professional development day, so students return on Tuesday 3 November. Waingels does the same with INSET days on Friday 23 October and Monday 2 November, so its pupils are off from Thursday 22 October to Tuesday 3 November. The Piggott closes for INSET on Thursday 22 October, making its break nine days. The Holt has a wellbeing day on Friday 23 October, which has the same effect.
The two independents, Luckley House and Reddam House, take the earlier fortnight of 19 to 30 October and are back on Monday 2 November, so a household with one child at Luckley and one at The Forest has a child off school for three consecutive weeks.
December: two schools finish a week early
Luckley House ends its term at 4pm on Friday 11 December and Reddam House at 2pm the same day. Every other school on the list runs to Friday 18 December, with The Holt and The Emmbrook finishing at lunchtime. Reddam’s ELS, its setting for all-year-round families and boarders, stays open until 2.30pm on Christmas Eve and reopens at 8am on Monday 4 January.
The extra closed days worth putting in the diary now
- Friday 27 November 2026: INSET day at The Emmbrook and at The Piggott, which also closes on Monday 30 November, giving Piggott pupils a four-day weekend.
- Monday 4 January 2027: INSET at The Emmbrook, Waingels (with Tuesday 5 as well), Luckley House (with the 5th) and Reddam House.
- Summer term 2027: The Holt, The Forest and The Piggott all finish on Friday 16 July, three school days before the council’s 21 July, and take their remaining INSET days in that final week. Waingels runs to 21 July. Luckley House ends on Wednesday 30 June for all but Years 11 and 13, and Reddam House on Friday 9 July.
- Bohunt Wokingham and St Crispin’s publish their calendars on their own sites; we could not read either on 25 September and will add them.
October half term this year
The confirmed local dates and what is on that week, including Dinton After Dark and the council’s Wild Days childcare, are on our October half term page.
Still to be confirmed
- The remaining INSET days at The Forest School, which says one more may be added in the spring term.
- Bohunt Wokingham and St Crispin’s term dates for 2026/27.
- School-level 2027/28 calendars, which most schools publish in the spring.
Related: October half term, Ofsted report cards for the borough’s schools, Christmas bin collections.
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