Rotterdam school holidays 2026: term dates calendar

School holiday dates in the Netherlands are set by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW), which fixes the summer, Christmas and May holidays for each of the three regions and gives advisory dates for the autumn and spring breaks. Rotterdam falls in Regio Midden alongside the rest of Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and parts of Gelderland. The country guide for the wider system sits on our Netherlands country hub, and this page narrows it down to Rotterdam for 2026.

Rotterdam public holidays 2026

Rotterdam schools close on the Dutch national public holidays. Several of these, such as Good Friday and the King's Day weekend, fall close to the May holiday in 2026 and effectively lengthen it. Note that Ascension Day always falls on a Thursday, and many schools add the Friday after as a bridging day.

Good Friday is a recognised public holiday but not a guaranteed day off for every Dutch employer, though schools generally close. Liberation Day is a national day off only every fifth year; 2026 is not one of those years, so whether it falls inside school time depends on the individual school. King's Day on 27 April 2026 lands on a Monday, sitting neatly against the end of the May holiday for Regio Midden.

Term dates 2025-26 and 2026-27

The Dutch system does not divide the year into named terms in the British sense. Instead it runs continuous teaching broken up by fixed holiday weeks. The table below gives the gazetted Regio Midden dates that apply to Rotterdam for both the current 2025-26 year and the 2026-27 year that begins after the summer break.

These are the official ministry dates for Regio Midden. The summer, Christmas and May holidays are fixed by OCW, so they are reliable; the autumn and spring dates are advisory, which means an individual Rotterdam school may shift them by a few days, and secondary vocational and tertiary institutions set their own. Confirm the precise week against your school's published guide before booking travel.

International school term dates

International schools in Rotterdam mostly follow the same northern-hemisphere rhythm as the Dutch system, but the detail differs. Dutch state and bilingual schools track the Regio Midden dates in the table above exactly. International schools serving expatriate families, such as those offering the International Baccalaureate or a British curriculum, set their own term structure: a British-stream school will run three terms with a February half-term and an October half-term, while an IB or American-stream school typically runs two semesters. Both usually align their long summer break loosely with the Dutch summer but can start and finish a week earlier or later, and their Christmas and spring breaks rarely match the regional dates to the day. The result is that two Rotterdam children at different schools can have holiday weeks that do not overlap. Our curriculum guide explains how each system shapes the year and its exam seasons.

Planning the year

Two practical notes for Rotterdam families. First, because Regio Midden takes the latest Dutch summer slot, Rotterdam children are still in school in early July while Regio Noord has already broken up; this staggering keeps motorway and airport traffic down but means popular July destinations fill with northern Dutch families before Rotterdam breaks up. Second, the May holiday combined with King's Day and the Ascension and Whitsun long weekends makes late April and May the busiest travel window of the year, so book early. Families weighing fees alongside the calendar can start a shortlist from the Rotterdam city hub and compare systems in our curriculum guide.

Common questions

When do schools break up for summer in Rotterdam? Rotterdam is in Regio Midden, so the 2026 summer holiday runs from 18 July to 30 August, meaning schools break up after Friday 17 July 2026.

How long is the summer holiday in Rotterdam? Six weeks, like every Dutch region. The Netherlands staggers the start across Regio Noord, Midden and Zuid to spread holiday traffic, and Rotterdam in Regio Midden takes the latest slot in 2026.

When does the 2026 school year start in Rotterdam? The 2026-27 year begins on Monday 31 August 2026, the day after the summer holiday ends. International schools on a northern-hemisphere calendar generally restart in late August or early September too.

Which holiday region is Rotterdam in? Regio Midden, the Central region, alongside the rest of Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and parts of Gelderland. The region sets the summer holiday dates.

Are the dates the same at every school? The summer, Christmas and May holidays are fixed by the ministry for the region, but the autumn and spring breaks are advisory and can vary by a few days. Always check your school's guide.

Related guides

• Rotterdam city guide
• Schools in the Netherlands
• Compare curricula
• Find a school