Key dates of the Polish school year 2026/2027, and the rules behind them
Holidays, breaks and exams. Each date follows a rule you can check yourself, which also lets you work out the year after next.
"How many days until the holidays" comes up several times a year in any family with a child at school. Here are the dates for the Polish school year 2026/2027 and the rules they follow, because a rule is worth more than a date: it lets you work out the next year without waiting for an announcement.
The 2026/2027 calendar
| what | when |
|---|---|
| First day of classes | Tuesday 1 September 2026 |
| Winter holiday break | 23-31 December 2026 |
| Winter holidays (ferie) | 18-31 January, 1-14 February or 15-28 February 2027, by region |
| Spring holiday break | 25-30 March 2027 |
| Eighth grade exam | 10-12 May 2027 |
| Matura, written session | 4-24 May 2027 |
| Last day of classes | Friday 25 June 2027 |
| Summer holidays | 26 June - 31 August 2027 |
The rules behind them
The school year starts on 1 September. When that day is a Friday or a weekend day, classes start the following Monday. In 2026 it is a Tuesday, so no shift.
Classes end on the first Friday after 20 June. In 2027, 20 June is a Sunday, so the last day is 25 June. For comparison: in 2025, 20 June was a Friday and reports were handed out a week later, on 27 June. This is the most common source of mistakes in a countdown.
Summer holidays run from the day after classes end to 31 August.
The winter holiday break is 23-31 December. That one date never moves.
The winter holidays are two weeks between mid-January and the end of February, in three waves assigned to regions so that the whole country does not travel in the same week. The assignment changes every year and is announced by the ministry, so this is the one date you cannot compute.
The spring break runs from the Thursday before Easter to the Tuesday after it. Easter 2027 falls on 28 March, hence 25-30 March.
Exam dates are announced by the exam board (CKE) by 20 August of the preceding school year. No rule produces them: until the announcement there is no date, and any counter that shows one is guessing.
Countdowns
Days until the summer holidays counts to the last day of classes, the day reports are handed out. There are separate pages for the matura, the eighth grade exam, the start of the school year and for Christmas, New Year, the first day of spring and Easter. Your own date goes here.
Planning leave around the school calendar? The working days calculator gives the working days in any period.