Victorian School Holidays and Term Dates 2026–2027

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Victorian government school term dates 2026

Source: Victorian Department of Education, School term dates and holidays in Victoria. Government schools only; Catholic and independent schools set their own dates, which usually differ by a few days, so check your school's calendar. Public holidays that fall inside a term (Labour Day, Easter, Anzac Day, King's Birthday, the AFL Grand Final Friday, Melbourne Cup Day) are school-free days on top of the breaks above.

Victorian school term dates 2027

The 2027 term dates are published by the Victorian Department of Education. We do not print them until they are official; check vic.gov.au school term dates for the confirmed 2027 calendar. In recent years Term 1 has started in the last week of January and Term 4 has ended in the third week of December, but treat that as a pattern, not a date. This page will be updated when the department publishes.

What to do in each school holiday break

Two weeks off four times a year adds up to about eight weeks, plus a six-week summer, in which most children do no structured maths or English at all. Teachers see the effect in the first fortnight of every term: skills that were secure in the last week of the previous term have gone soft, and the first week is spent re-teaching. The good news is that it takes very little to prevent. Twenty minutes a day, three or four days a week, is enough to hold a year level's skills across a two-week break, and a fortnight of targeted work in a long break can close a gap that would otherwise take a term.

Term 1 holidays (3 April 2026 – 19 April 2026)

The first break is the natural time to act on the first-term report. If a teacher has flagged a topic, or NAPLAN in March felt harder than expected, do the free Skills Check in the first weekend of the holidays: fifteen minutes online, a topic-by-topic report the same day, and a tutor call to talk through it. RHZ runs holiday clinics at the Truganina centre in this break for Years 3 to 10, short daily sessions on the specific topics the check identifies. Year 12 students should use the break to finish the Unit 3 SAC preparation their school has set and to bank their first practice exam questions.

Term 2 holidays (27 June 2026 – 12 July 2026)

The winter break sits halfway through the year and is the last chance to fix a foundation before the second-semester content builds on it, especially in maths. For Years 7 to 10 this is the break to re-learn fractions, negative numbers, algebra basics or whatever the Skills Check flags, because Term 3 assumes them. For Year 12, the GAT is done (it was 16 June 2026 in 2026) and Unit 4 begins; two weeks of Unit 3 revision now pays off in October. Families can order a printed practice paper booklet for the year level to work through at the kitchen table.

Term 3 holidays (19 September 2026 – 4 October 2026)

For Year 12 this is the exam-preparation break: written exams start on 27 October 2026, so these two weeks should be planned with the study timetable planner and spent on topic revision and the first timed papers. For Year 11 it is when the VCE 2027 Head Start program begins: a free VCE Skills Check, a free consultation, first session free, and Unit 3 & 4 content taught through Term 4 and January so that students start Year 12 ahead. For primary and middle years, keep the twenty-minutes-a-day habit and use the free practice quizzes.

Summer holidays (from 19 December 2026)

Six weeks is long enough for real regression and long enough for real progress. The advice is the same at either end: little and often beats a burst in the last week of January. Students moving into Year 7 benefit from a short numeracy and writing tune-up before secondary school; students moving into Year 11 or 12 benefit from the January Head Start sessions. RHZ offers a January clinic for Years 5 to 12 and the practice quizzes stay open all summer. Check the Department of Education page for the confirmed 2027 Term 1 start date before booking anything in the last week of January.

Planning the year

• Print this page (the header, footer and buttons are hidden in print) and mark the school's own pupil-free days on it.
• Book holiday clinics before the term ends; the first week of each break fills first.
• Use each break's first weekend for a Skills Check so the tutor call and any sessions land inside the break, not after it.
• Year 12 families: put the VCE exam dates and the results release (mid-December, see VCE exams explained) on the same calendar.

Today's date in Melbourne: 8 September 2026. Term 3 2026 ends in 10 days.

Frequently asked questions

Next steps

Call 03 9509 3293, book a free consultation, or browse printable practice papers. RHZ Tutoring, 17/47 Apex Drive, Truganina VIC 3029.