Three months without school can feel completely normal in one country—and almost unimaginable in another.
Across the world’s major economies, children may spend a broadly similar part of the year in education, but the way school time and holidays are organized can be radically different.
In Italy, Greece and some other European countries, summer can dominate the calendar, with students staying away from classrooms for around three months. France distributes much more of its holiday time across the year. Germany and England interrupt school more frequently, while countries such as Australia and New Zealand follow calendars shaped by the southern hemisphere.
There is no single international model.
According to the OECD’s latest comparable data, primary school students attend classes for an average of around 186 days per year. Across most OECD countries, total school holidays amount to roughly 13 weeks—but when those weeks happen can make family life feel completely different.
Contents
School Holidays Are Not Just About Summer
When people compare school calendars, they often focus entirely on the length of the summer break.
That can be misleading.
Some countries give students a very long summer but relatively few substantial holidays during the school year. Others shorten the summer and redistribute those weeks into autumn, Christmas, winter, spring and Easter breaks.
The OECD finds that the longest holiday almost everywhere is the break between two academic years. But the difference between countries is enormous: it can be as short as around three weeks in some Swiss cantons and 12 weeks or more in countries including Italy, Greece and Latvia.
Most students then receive another two to four holiday periods during the academic year. England and parts of Germany and Switzerland can have even more.
So two children may ultimately spend a surprisingly similar number of weeks away from school while experiencing completely different annual routines.
Southern Europe: The Long Summer Tradition
Southern Europe contains some of the clearest examples of the long summer model.
In Italy, schools generally finish during the first half of June and reopen in September. Exact dates vary by region and individual school, but the end-of-year break is among the longest recorded across the OECD.
Spain also has a relatively long summer interruption, generally stretching from late June into September, although education is decentralized and calendars are established by the country’s autonomous communities.
Greece follows a similar pattern, with an especially long break between academic years.
There are practical and historical reasons behind this model. Climate has traditionally played a role, particularly in countries where July and August can be extremely hot. Tourism, family routines and the structure of the academic year have reinforced a calendar in which summer represents the great interruption in school life.
For families, however, that creates an obvious challenge: parents rarely receive anything close to three months of annual leave.
France: Holidays Spread Much More Evenly
Cross the border into France and the rhythm changes noticeably.
French children still have a substantial summer break, but the academic year is interrupted much more regularly. The national calendar includes holidays around All Saints’ Day and Christmas, followed by winter and spring breaks.
These mid-year holidays commonly last around two weeks at a time. The OECD actually identifies France as one of the countries where shorter school breaks are particularly consistent in length.
France also operates a geographical zoning system. For winter and spring holidays, metropolitan France is divided into Zones A, B and C, which take their breaks on different dates.
The system helps prevent the entire country from going on holiday simultaneously, spreading pressure on roads, ski resorts, trains and tourist destinations across several weeks.
For the 2026–27 school year, for example, all three zones return to school on September 1, but their winter and spring holidays take place at different times before classes finish nationally in early July.
Germany and the UK Prefer Shorter, More Frequent Breaks
Germany offers another contrast with the long Mediterranean summer.
Its school calendar is largely determined by the Länder rather than through one identical national timetable. Summer holidays are staggered geographically, helping prevent millions of families from beginning their vacations on the same weekend.
German primary students have around 12.6 weeks of school holidays in total during the year, according to OECD data, but that time is divided more evenly than in countries where summer accounts for the overwhelming majority of the break.
England follows an even more recognizable pattern of regular interruptions. Alongside the summer, Christmas and Easter holidays, students typically receive short half-term breaks during autumn, February and late spring.
The result is a very different rhythm: students rarely face the enormous summer interruption familiar to many southern European families, but they stop more frequently throughout the academic year.
United States and Canada: Long Summers, but No Single Calendar
Across North America, the long summer break remains familiar, but there is an important difference from countries with centralized school systems: there is no single national school calendar.
In the United States, dates are generally determined by states and individual school districts. Many students finish classes between late May and June and return between August and early September, creating a substantial summer break alongside shorter holidays for Thanksgiving, Christmas and spring break.
Canada works in a similar way, with provinces and local school boards setting calendars. The traditional pattern is usually a school year running from September until June, followed by the main summer holiday in July and August.
Interestingly, OECD comparisons show that students in both Canada and the United States receive above-average annual instruction hours concentrated into a relatively limited number of school weeks. In other words, the school year can be more intensive even when the summer break remains relatively long.
Japan and South Korea Follow a Different Rhythm
East Asia offers another model entirely.
Japan’s academic year begins in April rather than September, coinciding with the country’s fiscal year and the famous cherry blossom season. The year is generally divided into terms, with a summer holiday in the middle rather than marking the end of the academic year.
OECD data show that Japanese students receive fewer compulsory instruction hours than students in countries such as the United States and Canada, but those hours are spread across a comparatively long school year.
South Korea also has a different rhythm from much of Europe. The academic year begins in March, with summer and winter interruptions separating the semesters. Formal classroom time, however, tells only part of the story.
Private tutoring and after-school education play an especially important role in South Korea. The OECD specifically notes that time spent in private education needs to be considered when comparing Korea with other countries, because a school holiday does not necessarily mean a complete break from studying.
Australia and New Zealand Turn the Calendar Upside Down
Move to the Southern Hemisphere and even the seasons change the logic of the school year.
In Australia and New Zealand, students generally begin school in late January or early February and finish in December. Their longest holiday therefore falls over Christmas and the Southern Hemisphere summer.
Rather than one extremely long mid-year break, the academic year is typically divided into four terms separated by shorter holidays.
New Zealand offers a particularly clear example. In 2026, students receive roughly two-week breaks between the first three terms, followed by a summer holiday of around five to six weeks between December and the beginning of the following school year.
Australia also has one of the longer school years in the OECD, with at least 40 weeks of instruction in the comparative data. Exact holiday dates vary between states and territories, which can help stagger domestic travel in much the same way regional calendars do in parts of Europe.
Is a Long Summer Break Actually Better?
This is where the comparison becomes more complicated.
It might seem logical to assume that countries with more school days or shorter holidays automatically produce better academic results. The evidence does not support such a simple conclusion.
The OECD finds no strong relationship between simply spending more time in class and performing better academically. Countries can achieve strong educational results with very different calendars.
Japan spreads teaching across a longer school year. France provides substantial breaks throughout the year. Italy concentrates much of its holiday time in summer. Australia operates a four-term calendar. All are legitimate ways of organizing education.
There is, however, an important debate around very long summer holidays. Research cited by the OECD suggests that extended breaks can increase educational inequalities because children from wealthier families are more likely to have access to camps, travel, tutoring and educational activities while school is closed.
For parents, shorter and more frequent holidays create a different challenge: organizing childcare several times throughout the year rather than primarily during summer.
There Is No Universal School Calendar
Comparing school holidays around the world reveals that the biggest difference is often not how much time children spend away from school, but when they get that time off.
Across OECD countries, the total amount of holiday is less dramatically different than the summer break alone might suggest. Some systems concentrate free time into one enormous holiday; others interrupt the year every few weeks with shorter breaks.
For families moving internationally, that difference can have a surprisingly large impact on everyday life. Holiday dates influence childcare, family travel, work schedules and even when it makes sense to relocate between countries.
Families planning an international move may also find our guide to education and support for children with special needs abroad useful, while those relocating specifically to Italy can discover how the Italian school lunch system works for expat families.
For detailed international comparisons of school weeks, instruction time and holiday patterns, readers can consult the OECD’s official analysis of how the school year is organized across countries.
