UAE Announces New Academic Calendar for 2025–2026 with Mid-Term Breaks for All Schools

The UAE Ministry of Education has unveiled a new academic calendar for the 2025–2026 school year, introducing unified term schedules and mid-term breaks for all public and private schools across the nation. The updated calendar, approved by the Education, Human Development, and Community Development Council (EHCD), aims to streamline academic planning and enhance alignment across educational institutions.

Under the new structure, the academic year will begin on August 25, 2025, and end on July 3, 2026. This standardized timeline applies to schools following the government curriculum and those with international curricula, although the latter are granted limited flexibility in setting additional breaks.

Term-wise Breakdown

• First Term:
  Ends on December 7, 2025, followed by a four-week winter break from December 8, 2025, to January 4, 2026. Schools resume on January 5, 2026.

• Second Term:
  Runs from January 5 to March 15, 2026, followed by a spring break from March 16 to 29, 2026. Schools resume on March 30, except in Sharjah, where classes restart on March 23.

• Third Term:
  Starts on March 30, 2026, and concludes on July 3, 2026 (July 2 in Sharjah).

Mid-Term Breaks (Government Curriculum Schools)

• First Term: October 13–19, 2025 (resumes October 20)

• Second Term: February 11–15, 2026 (resumes February 16)

• Third Term: May 25–31, 2026 (resumes June 1, aligned with Eid Al Adha)

Private Schools with Non-Government Curricula

Schools that do not follow the national curriculum are allowed to introduce mid-term breaks in October and February, each not exceeding five consecutive days. These breaks must fall within their designated months and cannot be moved or extended to ensure consistency with the national calendar.

Final Assessments & Attendance

The Ministry emphasized that all schools must conduct final assessments or complete curriculum requirements in the final week of each term. Students are expected to attend until the last official day of school, with exceptions only for grades undertaking internationally scheduled exams.

Private schools following the government curriculum are also required to adhere to the centralised test calendar used by public schools.

This overhaul of the academic calendar underscores the Ministry's efforts to promote consistency across the UAE’s education system, ensuring that all students, regardless of curriculum, benefit from structured academic and recreational time.UAE academic calendar 2025, Ministry of Education UAE, UAE school holidays 2025-2026, EHCD UAE, public and private school schedule UAE, mid-term breaks UAE, school term dates UAE