School's out for summer: Which European students have the longest holidays?

School's out for summer: Which European students have the longest holidays?
By Emma Beswick
Share this articleComments
Share this articleClose Button
ADVERTISEMENT

When the summer holidays finally arrive, students across Europe pack up their pens for a well-deserved break, but which children have the longest before they must return to the classroom?

Certain countries, such as France, have opted to fix holiday dates for all students (from July 8 to September 4), whereas Germany, Austria and the UK stagger dates across regions.

In Germany, the 16 “Länder” (states) nearly all broke up on different days: The lucky students in Lower Saxony and Bremen threw in the towel on June 22 (they go back on August 2), but their fellow scholars in Bavaria still had a short wait until July 29.

Primary and secondary school students in much of Eastern Europe benefit from lengthy holidays of 12 to 13 weeks, much the same as Italy, Portugal, Spain and some Balkan countries.

The average number of weeks in the UK is significantly lower at six to nine weeks: Students in Scotland and Northern Ireland have eight to nine weeks, while those in England and Wales have less than seven.

Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark come in with the lowest number of holidays where students have seven weeks off or less.

Share this articleComments

You might also like

Afghanistan's school year starts with more than 1 million girls barred from education

Ukraine's school children suffering from war trauma

Why does Denmark have one of Europe's lowest rates of bullying?