October half term in Lichfield is 26 to 30 October and Christmas breaks on 18 December. Every holiday for 2026/27, plus INSET days school by school.

Most schools in Lichfield, Burntwood and the villages break up for October half term on Friday 23 October and go back on Monday 2 November. Christmas starts after school on Friday 18 December, and pupils return on Monday 4 January 2027. Those are Staffordshire County Council’s dates, and every big secondary we checked follows them for the holidays themselves.

Where schools differ is the INSET days, the extra closures a school chooses for staff training. They are the dates that catch parents out, so the table further down lists them school by school.

The quick answer

  • October half term: Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026.
  • Christmas holiday: Monday 21 December 2026 to Friday 1 January 2027, back Monday 4 January.
  • Lichfield Cathedral School is the exception: two weeks at October half term, from 19 October, and it breaks up for Christmas on 11 December.

Staffordshire’s 2026/27 calendar

These dates are set by Staffordshire County Council for community, voluntary controlled and community special schools and maintained nurseries (Staffordshire County Council, school term dates). Academies, free schools, foundation, voluntary aided and independent schools set their own. The county says they are “encouraged to accept” its dates but do not have to.

Term Starts Half term Ends
Autumn 2026 Wednesday 2 September Mon 26 to Fri 30 October Friday 18 December
Spring 2027 Monday 4 January Mon 15 to Fri 19 February Thursday 25 March
Summer 2027 Monday 12 April Mon 31 May to Fri 4 June Wednesday 21 July

The holidays in between:

  • Christmas: Monday 21 December 2026 to Friday 1 January 2027.
  • Easter: Monday 29 March to Friday 9 April 2027. Easter Sunday is 28 March, so the spring term ends on the Thursday before Good Friday.
  • May Day bank holiday: Monday 3 May 2027, a day off in the middle of term.
  • Summer: Thursday 22 July to Wednesday 1 September 2027.

Pupils attend for 190 days. Schools add five staff training days, and the county fixes only one of them: Tuesday 1 September 2026. The other four are up to each school, which is why you need your own school’s list.

School by school: where the INSET days fall

We checked the calendars published by the district’s larger schools on 25 September 2026. All four state secondaries below keep the county’s holidays; the differences are in when term starts and ends and in the training days.

School First day for pupils Extra days closed to pupils Last day of the year
King Edward VI School, Lichfield Thu 3 September Thu 8 October, Fri 27 November, Mon 21 June Wed 21 July
Erasmus Darwin Academy, Chasetown Thu 3 September Fri 27 November, Mon 30 November, Mon 4 January Wed 21 July
Chase Terrace Academy, Burntwood Wed 2 September Fri 2 July Fri 16 July
Lichfield Cathedral School (independent) Mon 7 September Different holidays, see below Fri 9 July

Sources: King Edward VI School term dates, Erasmus Darwin Academy term dates, Chase Terrace Academy term dates, Lichfield Cathedral School term dates.

Three dates stand out:

  • Friday 27 November is a training day at both King Edward VI and Erasmus Darwin. At Erasmus Darwin it becomes a four-day weekend, because Monday 30 November is closed too.
  • Erasmus Darwin goes back a day later after Christmas, on Tuesday 5 January, because Monday 4 January is a training day.
  • Chase Terrace Academy finishes the summer term five days early, on Friday 16 July 2027. Its last three days, 19 to 21 July, are staff training days.

Lichfield Cathedral School runs to a different calendar

The independent Cathedral School in the Close keeps its own three terms, and they do not line up with the county’s (Lichfield Cathedral School):

Term Starts Half term Ends
Michaelmas 2026 Monday 7 September Mon 19 to Fri 30 October Friday 11 December
Lent 2027 Tuesday 5 January Mon 15 to Fri 19 February Friday 19 March
Trinity 2027 Wednesday 14 April Mon 31 May to Fri 4 June Friday 9 July

So a family with one child at the Cathedral School and another at a county school has one week of October half term that does not overlap (19 to 23 October), and a week in December (14 to 18 December) when only one of them is at school.

Schools we could not confirm

The Friary School’s 2026/27 term dates page returned “not found” when we checked on 25 September, and Nether Stowe School had published only its 2025/26 list. Both are academies and can set their own INSET days, so check directly with the school. If they publish, this page will be updated.

Primary schools set their own training days too, so the same rule applies: the holidays above are almost certainly right, the INSET days are not something to assume.

Looking further ahead: 2027/28

The county has already published next year. Autumn term 2027 starts on Friday 3 September after a fixed training day on Thursday 2 September, October half term is Monday 25 to Friday 29 October 2027, and the Christmas holiday runs from Monday 20 December to Friday 31 December 2027. Spring term 2028 starts on Tuesday 4 January (Staffordshire County Council).