Is there a February half term in the UAE?
Not a national one. The Ministry of Education calendar has no February break, so schools that take one are setting their own week. Check your school’s published calendar rather than assuming there is one.
February half term in the UAE, 2026–27
The short answer is no – not nationally. The longer answer is the most useful thing on this site.
- 185school daysAll emirates · All curricula
- 9 weekslongest unbroken teaching stretch4 January – 5 March 2027
- 54days away, summer not countedTerm-time breaks, weekends included.
- 6dates awaiting a moon sightingEid Al Fitr break, Eid Al Adha break, Eid Al Fitr, Arafah Day and Eid Al Adha, Hijri New Year, Ramadan
There is no national February half term in the UAE school calendar. The Ministry of Education frame for 2026–27 runs from the winter break straight through to the Eid Al Fitr break, which produces an unbroken teaching stretch of nine weeks (4 January – 5 March 2027), the longest of the year. Individual private schools may set their own February week within that stretch, but it is a school decision rather than a national date, and it is not published centrally. Ramadan is expected to begin inside the same stretch, on 8 February 2027.
| Month | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 |
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| August 2026 | |||||
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| October 2026 | |||||
| November 2026 | |||||
| December 2026 | |||||
| January 2027 | |||||
| February 2027 | |||||
| March 2027 | |||||
| April 2027 | |||||
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| June 2027 | |||||
| July 2027 |
- Teaching week
- Short week – a day or more off
- Break
- Public holiday
- Outside the school year
- Ramadan – school open, day shortened
- Pressure point – the pastoral layer
The rules behind these dates
What your emirate and curriculum changeAll emirates · All curricula
All emirates (UAE Ministry of Education (MOE) unified calendar). Public schools nationwide, and the baseline that private schools in all seven emirates build from. Private schools may vary start dates, half terms and the length of breaks within the 185-day minimum. The national calendar is the frame, not the contract.
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 Dubai page for the local rules in full.
The six dates still awaiting a moon sighting6 dates
Depends on moon sighting. Firm enough to plan around, not firm enough to book non-refundable travel around.
- Eid Al Fitr break – expected 8–12 March 2027
- Eid Al Adha break – expected 17–18 May 2027
- Eid Al Fitr – expected 9–12 March 2027
- Arafah Day and Eid Al Adha – expected 15–18 May 2027
- Hijri New Year – expected 6 June 2027
- Ramadan – expected 8 February – 7 March 2027
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.
Every date, as a table185 school days
| 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.
What this means in practice
Most calendars will tell you the term dates. Very few will tell you that the gap between two of them is 9 weeks long, because you only see that by counting teaching weeks rather than reading dates.
It matters because a stretch that long behaves differently from a normal half term. Attendance holds; what drifts is energy, punctuality and the small routines that hold a class together. And this year Ramadan starts inside it.
Some private schools set a week off in February to break it up. If yours does, switch it on in More options and the calendar redraws – including the longest-stretch figure, which is the number that changes most.
The year with and without one
As published, with no February break
9 weeks
unbroken teaching, 4 January – 5 March 2027. 185 school days in the year.
If your school sets its own week
6 weeks
unbroken teaching, 31 August – 9 October 2026. 180 school days in the year.
Questions people ask
How long is the longest teaching stretch without a February break?
Nine weeks, from 4 January – 5 March 2027. That is the longest unbroken run of five-day teaching weeks in the 2026–27 year, and Ramadan is expected to begin inside it.
What happens to the year if my school does set a February half term?
The longest unbroken stretch drops from 9 weeks to 6, and the school-day total falls from 185 to 180. Switch it on in More options above to see the year redrawn around it.
Why do UAE schools not have a February half term?
The UAE school year is built on a three-term frame with breaks at the end of each term rather than in the middle. The October break exists because term 1 is the longest term; term 2 is shorter, and the Eid Al Fitr break falls near its end, so the frame does not add another.
What sits inside that stretch
Sources
- UAE Ministry of Education, three-year academic calendar announcement
- WhichSchoolAdvisor, Official UAE School Calendar 2026-27, 2027-28, 2028-29
- Gulf News, UAE public holidays 2027
- Gulf News, UAE school calendar 2026-27
- Emirates 24|7, remaining UAE public holidays 2026
- Khaleej Times, Dubai school calendar 2026-27