School holidays

UK separated parents usually split school holidays one of three ways: alternating each holiday year to year, splitting each holiday in half, or fixing a pattern where each parent always has the same weeks. Term dates are set by local authorities and differ between neighbouring councils, so agree yours from your own council's published calendar rather than a national one.

In this cluster #

Christmas and New Year arrangements → The hardest one to agree and the one most worth agreeing early.

The three methods #

Alternate whole holidays. You have February half term this year, they have it next. Simple, easy to remember, and it means each of you gets a proper run of time. The downside is a long wait for the one you care about.

Split each holiday. First half and second half, alternating which half each year. Fairer-feeling, more handovers, and it makes booking a two-week holiday harder.

Fixed pattern. One parent always has the first two weeks of summer, the other the last two. Predictable, easy to plan around, and it can quietly hand one parent the better weather or the cheaper flights every single year — worth checking before you settle on it.

Most families end up with a mix: a fixed pattern for summer, alternating for the short holidays, and Christmas handled on its own terms.

Two things that catch people out #

Term dates aren't national. Your council's October half term may not match the next one's, and INSET days certainly won't. If your children are at schools in different authorities, or one of you lives across a boundary, check both calendars before agreeing anything.

The holidays are where plans break. Not the weekly routine — that settles down. It's the summer, because it needs agreeing months ahead, involves money, and is the first time the arrangement has to bend rather than repeat. Agreeing summer by February is the single most useful holiday habit there is.

How OurPath helps #

Your local authority's term and holiday dates are already in your calendar, so half term is on there before either of you looks it up. Holiday rules come from your parenting plan, so the pattern you agreed applies automatically each year instead of being renegotiated. And swaps are requested and answered in the app, so "you agreed I'd have that week" has an answer.

General information about England and Wales, not legal advice.