Oxfordshire half term is 26 to 30 October and Christmas runs 21 December to 1 January. Witney's secondaries, INSET days and Cokethorpe's dates compared.

Oxfordshire’s October half term is Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026, and schools break up for Christmas on Friday 18 December. Pupils go back on Monday 4 January 2027 on the county calendar, but most Witney-area secondaries use that Monday as a training day and return on Tuesday 5 January.

The quick answer

  • October half term: 26 to 30 October 2026, the same week at every state school in the county.
  • Christmas: last day Friday 18 December, with most secondaries finishing at lunchtime.
  • Check the INSET days. Wood Green and Chipping Norton close on Friday 23 October, and Burford and Bartholomew on Monday 2 November, so half term is a day longer there.

Oxfordshire term dates 2026/27

These are the dates set by Oxfordshire County Council, which apply to its community and voluntary controlled schools and which almost every academy in the district follows. The council names Tuesday 1 September 2026 as a countywide INSET day and says schools choose their other four.

Term or holiday Dates
Autumn term Wednesday 2 September to Friday 23 October 2026
October half term Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026
Autumn term Monday 2 November to Friday 18 December 2026
Christmas holiday Monday 21 December to Thursday 31 December 2026
Spring term Monday 4 January to Friday 12 February 2027
February half term Monday 15 to Friday 19 February 2027
Spring term Monday 22 February to Thursday 25 March 2027
Easter holiday Monday 30 March to Friday 9 April 2027
Summer term Monday 12 April to Friday 28 May 2027
May half term Tuesday 1 June to Friday 4 June 2027
Summer term Monday 7 June to Wednesday 21 July 2027

The gaps in that table are bank holidays: New Year’s Day on Friday 1 January, Good Friday on 26 March, Easter Monday on 29 March, and the spring bank holiday on Monday 31 May, which is why the May half term runs Tuesday to Friday.

The county’s 2026/27 calendar PDF counts 195 days in total, of which the four school-chosen INSET days come off to leave the 190 pupil days the law requires.

Witney-area secondaries compared

Each school publishes its own calendar, and they differ mainly in the INSET days. All of the figures below come from the schools’ own term dates pages, checked on 24 September 2026.

School Autumn half term Extra days off either side Last day before Christmas Back in January
The Henry Box School, Witney 26 to 30 Oct INSET Fri 9 Oct and Mon 23 Nov Fri 18 Dec, ends 12 noon Mon 4 Jan
Wood Green School, Witney 26 to 30 Oct INSET Fri 23 Oct Fri 18 Dec, ends 1pm Tue 5 Jan (INSET Mon 4 Jan)
Burford School 26 to 30 Oct INSET Mon 2 Nov Fri 18 Dec, ends 12.20pm Tue 5 Jan (INSET Mon 4 Jan)
Chipping Norton School 26 to 30 Oct INSET Fri 2 Oct and Fri 23 Oct Fri 18 Dec Tue 5 Jan (INSET Mon 4 Jan)
The Marlborough School, Woodstock 26 to 30 Oct INSET Fri 25 Sep and Wed 25 Nov Fri 18 Dec, ends 12.30pm Tue 5 Jan (INSET Mon 4 Jan)
Bartholomew School, Eynsham Sat 24 Oct to Mon 2 Nov INSET Fri 25 Sep and Mon 2 Nov Fri 18 Dec Tue 5 Jan (INSET Mon 4 Jan)
Cokethorpe School (independent) Mon 19 to Fri 30 Oct None Fri 11 Dec, ends 12 noon Tue 5 Jan (INSET Mon 4 Jan)

Three things stand out.

  • Cokethorpe takes a two-week October break and finishes for Christmas a week before everyone else, on Friday 11 December. Its summer term ends on Friday 2 July 2027 for the senior school, nearly three weeks before the state schools.
  • Henry Box is the only secondary here back on Monday 4 January; the rest use that day for staff training.
  • Wood Green’s summer term ends a day early, on Tuesday 20 July 2027, as do Burford (which ends at 12.20pm and adds an INSET day on 21 July) and Bartholomew.

Primary schools set their own INSET days too. Most of the town’s primaries follow the county dates, but check your own school’s website before booking anything around a half term.

February and May half terms

The spring and summer half terms are almost uniform across the district: 15 to 19 February 2027 and 31 May to 4 June 2027 (with 31 May the bank holiday). Bartholomew is the exception again, listing Saturday 13 to Sunday 21 February and Saturday 29 May to Sunday 6 June, which are the same school days shown as weekend-to-weekend.

Easter is where the gap opens: the county’s Easter holiday runs from 26 March (Good Friday) to 9 April 2027, and pupils return on Monday 12 April, except at Cokethorpe, which returns on Wednesday 14 April.

Looking ahead to 2027/28

The county has already set next year’s dates. The autumn term starts on Monday 6 September 2027, with Friday 3 September as the countywide INSET day, and October half term 2027 is Monday 25 to Friday 29 October.