Milton Keynes half term is 26 to 30 October and Christmas runs 21 Dec to 1 Jan. Two nearby independents break a week early. Nine calendars compared.
Milton Keynes schools break up for the October half term on Friday 23 October 2026 and go back on Monday 2 November, though several secondaries keep pupils off for an extra day either side. Christmas runs from Monday 21 December 2026 to Friday 1 January 2027. Those are the city council’s dates, and most of the big state secondaries follow them closely. The differences are in the training days, and in two independent schools just outside the city that break up a week earlier at both October and Christmas.
The quick answer
- October half term: Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026. Schools close on Friday 23 October.
- Christmas holiday: Monday 21 December 2026 to Friday 1 January 2027. Most schools close on Friday 18 December; Denbigh School’s pupils finish at 12.40pm on Wednesday 16 December.
- Watch the Mondays after the breaks. Ousedale, Hazeley and Shenley Brook End all have a training day on Monday 2 November, and several schools keep pupils off on Monday 4 January too.
Milton Keynes City Council term dates 2026/27
These are the dates Milton Keynes City Council publishes for community and voluntary controlled schools. They give 195 days, and each school takes out five of those as staff training days, so no school is open to pupils for all of them.
| Half term | Opens (morning of) | Closes (end of afternoon) |
|---|---|---|
| Autumn 1 | Tuesday 1 September 2026 | Friday 23 October 2026 |
| Autumn 2 | Monday 2 November 2026 | Friday 18 December 2026 |
| Spring 1 | Monday 4 January 2027 | Friday 12 February 2027 |
| Spring 2 | Monday 22 February 2027 | Thursday 25 March 2027 |
| Summer 1 | Monday 12 April 2027 | Friday 28 May 2027 |
| Summer 2 | Monday 7 June 2027 | Wednesday 21 July 2027 |
The holidays in between:
- Autumn half term: Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026
- Christmas: Monday 21 December 2026 to Friday 1 January 2027
- Spring half term: Monday 15 to Friday 19 February 2027
- Easter: Friday 26 March to Friday 9 April 2027
- Summer half term: Monday 31 May to Friday 4 June 2027
- Summer holiday starts Thursday 22 July 2027
The council is clear that academies, foundation and voluntary aided schools can set their own dates, and in Milton Keynes that is most secondaries. Check your own school’s calendar before you book anything.
School by school: where the dates differ
We read each school’s own published calendar on 25 September 2026. All of the state secondaries below close for October on Friday 23 October and for Christmas on Friday 18 December unless the table says otherwise. The differences are almost all training days.
| School | Back after October | Last day before Christmas | Back in January | Training days still to come |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakgrove School, Middleton | Tue 3 Nov | Fri 18 Dec | Mon 4 Jan | Mon 2 Nov, Fri 27 Nov, Mon 19 and Tue 20 Jul |
| Ousedale School, Newport Pagnell and Olney | Tue 3 Nov | Fri 18 Dec | Mon 4 Jan | Mon 2 Nov, Mon 22 Feb, Thu 22 Jul (twilight) |
| The Hazeley Academy | Tue 3 Nov | Fri 18 Dec | Tue 5 Jan | Mon 2 Nov, Mon 4 Jan, Wed 21 Jul |
| Shenley Brook End School | Tue 3 Nov | Fri 18 Dec | Tue 5 Jan | Mon 2 Nov, Mon 4 Jan, Wed 21 Jul |
| Denbigh School | Mon 2 Nov | Wed 16 Dec (12.40pm) | Tue 5 Jan | Thu 17 and Fri 18 Dec, Mon 4 Jan |
| St Paul's Catholic School | Mon 2 Nov | Fri 18 Dec (2.30pm) | Wed 6 Jan | Mon 4 and Tue 5 Jan |
| Akeley Wood School (independent) | Mon 2 Nov | Fri 11 Dec | Tue 5 Jan | Not listed separately |
| Thornton College (independent) | Mon 2 Nov | Fri 11 Dec | Tue 5 Jan | Mon 4 Jan, Mon 12 Apr |
A few points worth pulling out of that table:
- Four schools are shut on Monday 2 November for training: Oakgrove, Ousedale, Hazeley and Shenley Brook End. If you have children at one of those and a sibling at a primary on the council’s dates, the October break is a day longer for one of them.
- Oakgrove has a training day on Friday 27 November, the only one we found in the middle of a half term.
- Denbigh finishes earliest of the state schools at Christmas. Pupils leave at 12.40pm on Wednesday 16 December, and the Thursday and Friday are disaggregated training days.
- St Paul’s is back latest in January, on Wednesday 6 January, after two training days. Its page also gives Good Friday 2027 as 27 March; the council, Hazeley and Shenley Brook End all have the bank holiday on Friday 26 March, which is correct.
- Oakgrove’s summer term closes on Tuesday 20 July, but 19 and 20 July are both training days, so on the school’s own calendar the last day with pupils in is Friday 16 July 2027.
The independents break up a week early
Akeley Wood School and Thornton College, both just outside the city boundary and both with many Milton Keynes families, take a two-week October half term, from Monday 19 to Friday 30 October. Akeley Wood’s autumn term ends on Friday 16 October and Thornton’s on the same day.
Both also finish for Christmas on Friday 11 December, a week ahead of the state schools, and Thornton closes at noon on Friday 9 July 2027 for the summer. Akeley Wood’s summer term ends on Wednesday 7 July 2027. Akeley Wood Nursery stays open for 51 weeks of the year and closes only from 24 December to 4 January.
Staggered starts in September
Most secondaries brought pupils back over two days this September. At Oakgrove, Ousedale, Denbigh and Shenley Brook End, Years 7 and 12 started on Thursday 3 September and everyone else on Friday 4 September. Hazeley started Years 7 and 12 on Tuesday 1 September and the rest on Wednesday 2 September.
2027/28 dates are already out
The council has also set the following year. The autumn term 2027 opens on Wednesday 1 September 2027, October half term is 25 to 29 October 2027, and the Christmas break is Monday 20 December 2027 to Monday 3 January 2028. The summer holiday in 2028 starts on Monday 24 July. Oakgrove and Denbigh have already published their own 2027/28 calendars on the same pages linked above.
Still to check
We could not read Walton High’s 2026/27 dates: its term dates page carries the heading but no dates. The school is part of the 5 Dimensions Trust with Hazeley and Shenley Brook End, whose calendars are almost identical, but do not assume Walton’s match. Ring the school on 01908 677954. Primary schools and nurseries set their own training days, so check the individual school.
For what is on locally during the October break, see our October half term page. For the Christmas bin changes that land in the same fortnight, see Milton Keynes Christmas bin collections.
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