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Free tool · school holidays

Plan the school holidays across two homes.

Choose your council, or two councils if the homes or the children's schools are in different areas, then choose how you share each break. The planner works out who has the children on which dates, the handover days, and the nights and days each of you has, from the council's own published dates.

  • Real council dates
  • No sign-up, nothing stored
  • Calendar file and print

Plan your breaks.

How the planner counts.

  • A break runs from the first day off school to the last, including the weekends either side, any in-service (INSET) day or closure the council publishes next to it, and any bank holiday or unlisted day between it and the council's term dates. The next day is the first day back for pupils.
  • Days are whole days off school with one of you. On a handover day the children are with both of you, so it counts for neither and is shown on its own.
  • Nights are the nights between two days off school. The evening of the last school day and the night before school goes back follow your usual term-time arrangement.
  • Split in half: each of you has half the nights. If there is an odd number, the first half has one more, and you swap halves the next school year.
  • Alternate each year: one of you has the whole break this year, the other next year.
  • Two councils: the plan covers every day either school is off, and says plainly where the two councils' breaks do not line up.

The dates are the ones on our council term-dates pages, taken from each council's published calendar. Council dates cover community and voluntary-controlled schools; academies, free schools, voluntary aided and foundation schools can set their own, and most INSET days are chosen by each school. Always check with your child's school.

Most neighbouring councils share their holidays, but not all. See which neighbouring councils' holidays are out of step.

Writing it down.

A plan you both agree, and can both see, saves a lot of back-and-forth. Our guide to splitting the school holidays walks through the common patterns, the free parenting plan template covers the holidays alongside everything else, and Cafcass's Our Child's Plan is another good place to start. If you cannot agree, a family mediator can help.

Keep this plan in one calendar you both see. ParentGlow keeps what you agree in one calendar you both see, free during early access. In the app, each break can repeat every year and, once you're both in the app, only changes when you both agree: see how the app plans the holidays.

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Planner questions

What parents ask about the planner.

How does the planner split a break in half?

It counts the nights between the first and last days off school and gives each of you half. If there is an odd number, whoever has the first half has one more night, and you swap halves the next school year. The day in between is the handover day.

What if our homes are in different council areas?

Choose both councils. The plan covers every day either school is off, and it says in plain words wherever the two councils' breaks do not line up.

Is anything I type saved or sent to ParentGlow?

No. The planner runs in your browser. Names stay on your device, nothing is stored on our servers, and the share link carries only the councils and rules, never names.

Do academies follow the council's dates?

Not always. Council dates cover community and voluntary-controlled schools. Academies, free schools, voluntary aided and foundation schools can set their own, and most INSET days are chosen by each school, so check with your child's school.

Is this legal advice?

No. The planner is a scheduling aid. It does the date arithmetic and does not decide what is right for your family.