Abu Dhabi and Al Ain school term dates for the year ahead, with the ADEK frame drawn week by week.
In Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, the 2026–27 school year runs from 31 August 2026 to 2 July 2027, a total of 185 school days across three terms. Term 1 runs 31 August – 11 December 2026, 67 school days; Term 2 runs 4 January – 2 April 2027, 60 school days; Term 3 runs 12 April – 2 July 2027, 58 school days. Each school’s calendar is approved individually. Start dates can sit a day or two after the national date. Term dates are set against the UAE Ministry of Education frame and regulated by ADEK; Islamic holidays including Eid Al Fitr, Eid Al Adha and the start of Ramadan are confirmed by moon sighting shortly beforehand and can move by a day.
| Month | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 |
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| August 2026 | |||||
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| January 2027 | |||||
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| July 2027 |
Abu Dhabi and Al Ain (ADEK). Each school’s calendar is approved individually. Start dates can sit a day or two after the national date. It is common for two ADEK schools on the same road to start on different days.
All curricula. The national three-term frame, with no curriculum examinations drawn over it. Pick a curriculum to add its assessment windows, which are the dates most likely to override the local calendar.
Read the Abu Dhabi page for the local rules in full.
Depends on moon sighting. Firm enough to plan around, not firm enough to book non-refundable travel around.
They are badged Expected in the calendar and carry [expected] in the downloaded file, so a shifted date never lands silently in someone’s diary. What Ramadan does to the school day.
| What | Dates | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Staff return | 24 August 2026 | Confirmed. Published by the Ministry of Education or announced by UAE government. Safe to plan around. |
| Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday | 28 August 2026 | Confirmed. Published by the Ministry of Education or announced by UAE government. Safe to plan around.Falls on the Friday before students return. No school day lost. |
| Term 1 begins | 31 August 2026 | Confirmed. Published by the Ministry of Education or announced by UAE government. Safe to plan around. |
| Autumn half term | 12–16 October 20269 days away | Confirmed. Published by the Ministry of Education or announced by UAE government. Safe to plan around.Private schools outside Sharjah may split this break into two shorter ones, to a five-day maximum. This is the single most variable week in the year. |
| Eid Al Etihad (UAE National Day) | 2–4 December 2026 | Confirmed. Published by the Ministry of Education or announced by UAE government. Safe to plan around.The government public holiday is Wednesday 2 and Thursday 3 December. The MOE school calendar closes Wednesday to Friday, 2–4 December, which is what makes Term 1 total 67 days. Both statements are true; they are different things. |
| Term 1 ends | 11 December 2026 | Confirmed. Published by the Ministry of Education or announced by UAE government. Safe to plan around. |
| Winter break | 14–31 December 202623 days away | Confirmed. Published by the Ministry of Education or announced by UAE government. Safe to plan around.Students return Monday 4 January 2027. Public-school staff return earlier, typically after a shorter break from 21 December. |
| What | Dates | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| New Year’s Day | 1 January 2027 | Confirmed. Published by the Ministry of Education or announced by UAE government. Safe to plan around.Falls inside the winter break. |
| Term 2 begins | 4 January 2027 | Confirmed. Published by the Ministry of Education or announced by UAE government. Safe to plan around. |
| Eid Al Fitr break | 8–12 March 20279 days away | Expected. Depends on moon sighting. Firm enough to plan around, not firm enough to book non-refundable travel around.The school break is 8–12 March (5 school days), which is what makes Term 2 total exactly 60 days. The public holiday itself is expected 9–12 March. Moon-sighting dependent: the whole block can shift by a day or two. |
| Eid Al Fitr | 9–12 March 2027 | Expected. Depends on moon sighting. Firm enough to plan around, not firm enough to book non-refundable travel around.Moon-sighting dependent. |
| Term 2 ends | 2 April 2027 | Confirmed. Published by the Ministry of Education or announced by UAE government. Safe to plan around. |
| Spring break | 5–9 April 20279 days away | Confirmed. Published by the Ministry of Education or announced by UAE government. Safe to plan around.Sharjah schools list 5–8 April, a day shorter on paper. |
| What | Dates | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Term 3 begins | 12 April 2027 | Confirmed. Published by the Ministry of Education or announced by UAE government. Safe to plan around. |
| Arafah Day and Eid Al Adha | 15–18 May 2027 | Expected. Depends on moon sighting. Firm enough to plan around, not firm enough to book non-refundable travel around.Moon-sighting dependent. The first two days fall on a weekend. |
| Eid Al Adha break | 17–18 May 20274 days away | Expected. Depends on moon sighting. Firm enough to plan around, not firm enough to book non-refundable travel around.Arafah Day plus Eid Al Adha. Moon-sighting dependent. |
| Hijri New Year | 6 June 2027 | Expected. Depends on moon sighting. Firm enough to plan around, not firm enough to book non-refundable travel around.Falls on a Sunday. No school day lost. |
| Term 3 ends | 2 July 2027 | Confirmed. Published by the Ministry of Education or announced by UAE government. Safe to plan around. |
| Summer break | 5 July – 27 August 202758 days away | Confirmed. Published by the Ministry of Education or announced by UAE government. Safe to plan around.2027–28 begins Monday 30 August 2027. |
Last verified . Islamic dates move with the moon sighting, so the badges say how firm each one is.
ADEK publishes the same three-term frame as the Ministry, and most private schools in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain follow it closely.
The variation that does exist is usually at the edges: a school-set week in February, and the odd school starting a day or two either side of the national return date.
Everything national — the terms, the holidays, Ramadan — is fixed, and that is what the calendar below shows.
Worth checking with your school: Whether your school adds its own February week, and its inset days.
Students return on Monday 31 August 2026. Staff go back a week earlier, on Monday 24 August 2026. Private schools may move the student start date by a few days, so check your own school’s letter before booking travel.
The last day is Friday 2 July 2027, and the summer break runs from the following day. 185 school days sit between the first day and the last.
Six of them: Eid Al Fitr break, Eid Al Adha break, Eid Al Fitr, Arafah Day and Eid Al Adha, Hijri New Year and Ramadan. All are Islamic dates, which are confirmed by moon sighting a day or two beforehand rather than months in advance. They are marked as expected on this page and carry [expected] in the calendar file, so a date that shifts never lands silently in a diary.
Not a national one. The Ministry frame has no February break, which is what makes the 9-week run from 4 January – 5 March 2027 the longest unbroken teaching stretch of the year. Some private schools set their own week; if yours does, switch it on in More options and the calendar redraws around it.
Each school’s calendar is approved individually. Start dates can sit a day or two after the national date. It is common for two ADEK schools on the same road to start on different days.
The three terms, the national holidays and the Ramadan window are the same for every school. Half terms, inset days and the exact first day back are set school by school within that frame, which is why two schools a mile apart can break up on different Fridays.
