NT School Holidays

School Holidays Northern Territory

NT School Holiday Dates 2026

2026 NT School Holiday Information

The information below is relevant to Northern Territory state / government schools. In the past, Urban and remote schools differed slightly with their beginning and end school of year dates, however from 2024 til 2027 they will share the same start and finish dates. View detailed information on which schools are in the urban and remote areas here. You should check directly with your school to find out the correct term date information.

From 2018 onwards NT government schools have operated with new term dates and holiday breaks. Term and semester breaks are now in a 1,3,2,6 week holiday model compared to the old 1,4,1,6 week holiday model. These new term dates were approved for a five-year period, from 2018 til 2022. These changes reflect research that concluded that students school attendance and participation is generally higher at the start of the year.

This means a three week break in June and July and a longer two week break before Term 4, with the Christmas break the same at six weeks.

Note that the dates below represent government school term dates however many schools elect to start the students back on slightly different dates.

For example, Gunbalanya school has flexible term dates to recognise activities in the community.

2026 NT School Holidays and Term Dates

PeriodStartFinishLength
Term 1 – Urban & Remote Schools*Wednesday, 28 January 2026Thursday, 2 April 2026 10 Weeks
School HolidaysFriday, 3 April 2026Sunday, 12 April 2026
Term 2Monday, 13 April 2026Friday, 19 June 202610 Weeks
School HolidaysSaturday, 20 June 2026Monday, 13 July 2026
Term 3*Tuesday, 14 July 2026Friday, 18 September 202610 Weeks
School HolidaysSaturday, 19 September 2026Sunday, 4 October 2026
Term 4 – Urban & Remote SchoolsMonday, 5 October 2026Friday, 11 December 202610 Weeks
School HolidaysSaturday, 12 December 2026Tuesday, 26 January 2027

*In 2026 NT Teachers begin Term 1 and Term 3 one day prior to students.

If you would like to know public holiday dates please visit our sister site NT Public Holidays for everything you need to know about public holidays in the Northern Territory.

The information presented on this website does not take into account Student Free Days which are set by each school individually.

Private and catholic schools tend to use these dates as a guide but their dates sometimes differ slightly from state run public schools.

Information on these calendars is gathered from education department or government sources. We recommend double checking information against official education and government websites to confirm the dates are correct. From time to time the data on this website are updated to keep the information up to date.