French school holidays 2026 to 2027 and separated parents: official dates and how to split the holidays
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French law. Article up to date as of 25 September 2026.
The All Saints' holidays (Toussaint) begin on Saturday 17 October 2026. For separated parents, every holiday period raises the same questions: who has the first half this year, what time the child leaves, and when they come back. Here are the official dates for the 2026 to 2027 school year and the way the official public service page reads the split.
French school holidays 2026 to 2027: the official dates
They are set by the order of 22 October 2025 setting the school calendar for the 2026-2027 year (arrêté), read on Légifrance on 25 September 2026.
| Holidays | Zone A | Zone B | Zone C |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Saints' (Toussaint) | from Saturday 17 October to Monday 2 November 2026 | same | same |
| Christmas | from Saturday 19 December 2026 to Monday 4 January 2027 | same | same |
| Winter | from Saturday 13 February to Monday 1 March 2027 | from Saturday 20 February to Monday 8 March 2027 | from Saturday 6 February to Monday 22 February 2027 |
| Spring | from Saturday 10 April to Monday 26 April 2027 | from Saturday 17 April to Monday 3 May 2027 | from Saturday 3 April to Monday 19 April 2027 |
| Summer | from Saturday 3 July 2027 | same | same |
The order specifies: "The holidays begin after class, and lessons resume on the morning of the days indicated." It adds that, for pupils who have no lessons on Saturday, "the holidays begin on Friday after lessons". It also provides that "there will be no classes on Friday 7 May 2027".
The zones follow the education authority (académie) of the child's school:
- Zone A: Besançon, Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Dijon, Grenoble, Limoges, Lyon, Poitiers;
- Zone B: Aix-Marseille, Amiens, Lille, Nancy-Metz, Nantes, Nice, Normandie, Orléans-Tours, Reims, Rennes, Strasbourg;
- Zone C: Créteil, Montpellier, Paris, Toulouse, Versailles.
Corsica and the overseas territories have their own calendar. For the split, the page cited below refers to the dates of "the académie on which your child's school depends".
How the split of the holidays is read
It is your judgment or your agreement that sets the split. The official page Contact and accommodation rights when parents separate (checked on 5 June 2026) explains how it is read in practice.
During the holidays, weekends no longer count. The page says so twice: "the weekend system no longer applies", and "the weekend contact and accommodation rules must not be applied during school holiday periods".
Alternation is often by even and odd years. The page gives this example: "the first week of the holidays with the father in even years and the second in odd years".
The first week begins on the first day of the holidays of the child's académie. Example from the page: "If the first day of the holidays is a Saturday, the parent exercising their right must have the child from that Saturday up to and including the following Saturday." The handover then takes place "on Saturday evening or Sunday morning", and the other parent keeps the child "until the following Sunday".
Summer has its own division. According to the page, the decision may provide for half of the holidays, the month of July or the month of August, or alternation in periods of 15 days.
Applied to the 2026 to 2027 holidays
Here is what the page's model gives, if your decision provides for a split by halves that follows this example. If your decision says something else, it is your decision that applies.
- All Saints' 2026: first half from Saturday 17 to Saturday 24 October; second half from Saturday evening 24 or Sunday morning 25 October until Sunday 1 November, the day before school resumes.
- Christmas 2026: first half from Saturday 19 to Saturday 26 December; second half from Saturday evening 26 or Sunday morning 27 December until Sunday 3 January 2027.
Two points regularly give rise to disagreement, and neither the order nor the page settles them for you:
- Christmas straddles two calendar years. When a decision speaks of "even years", you need to know whether it means the year in which the holidays begin or the school year. Only the text of your decision answers that, and it is the first thing to reread.
- Friday evening. The order has the holidays begin "after class", on Friday for pupils who have no lessons on Saturday. If your decision sets a time, that time is what counts.
If the split does not go as planned
Write down what happens, on the same day: the planned time, the actual time, the messages exchanged. On the day you need to explain to a mediator or a judge what keeps happening, a dated list carries more weight than a memory.
- To seek an agreement: family mediation.
- To have the arrangements changed: apply to the family court judge (juge aux affaires familiales).
- If the child is not handed over to the other parent: our guide on failure to return a child (non-représentation d'enfant).
Keeping the real calendar of the year
This is what Aridelle is for: each handover, delay, exchange or last-minute change becomes a dated fact, with its attachments, in order. Opening a case file, recording dated facts in it and attaching documents is free. The assistant that works on the case file is part of the subscription.
Aridelle does not give legal advice. Aridelle does not interpret your judgment and does not say what a judge will decide. For your situation, contact a lawyer, a point-justice (free consultations) or a family mediator.
Sources
- Légifrance, order of 22 October 2025 setting the school calendar for the 2026-2027 year, read on 25 September 2026.
- Service-public.gouv.fr, Contact and accommodation rights when parents separate (F18786), checked on 5 June 2026.
- Our related guide: The child's residence after separation.