School holidays – 2025/26: schedule of autumn, winter and spring rest days
The 2025/26 academic year starts in four weeks, and parents and their children plan vacations, trips, and additional classes in advance for fall, winter, and spring. Izvestia studied the current school vacation schedule for the entire school year so that families could plan their time without missing anything important. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
When will the holidays start in the 2025/26 academic year?
The dates of school holidays in Russia are set by the regional education authorities on the basis of federal legislation. At the same time, schools can choose one of two systems: quarter or trimester. Most educational institutions operate according to the classical quarter system, and it will be the main one to guide this schedule.
According to the production calendar, the autumn holidays will begin on October 25 and will last until November 2, 2025, that is, one week. This is a standard date for most regions. In some schools, by decision of the administration, rest may begin 2-3 days later if the start date of the school year has been postponed or additional modules have been introduced.
Winter holidays usually include New Year's holidays and are extended until the end of the official weekend. This time, students will have a rest from Friday, December 26, 2025 to January 11, 2026, and classes in 2026 are scheduled to begin on Monday, January 12. In some schools, holidays may start later, from December 31, and last until January 13-14, if weekends fall during this period.
As in previous years, an additional week of rest is provided for first grade students in February, during the longest quarter. This is done in order to reduce the learning burden and adapt children to the school regime. First-graders will have a rest from Saturday, February 21 to Sunday, March 1, 2026.
Spring break traditionally falls on the last week of March, from the 21st to the 29th. Students return to classes on Monday, March 30th. However, this does not apply to high school students: at this time, they begin to actively prepare for exams.
The official end of the school year is May 31. After that, a three-month summer vacation begins, from June 1 to August 31, 2026. The exception is graduating classes, for which summer starts later due to the OGE and USE, as well as recent calls and final events.
Trimester school schedules
The trimester (modular) learning model is a system of organizing the academic year, in which it is divided not into the usual quarters or semesters, but into three equal periods (trimesters), each of which lasts about 10-12 weeks. In the trimester system, students study for five weeks and then take a week off.
The first trimester lasts from September to November or December, and the second — from December to February or March. The third trimester begins in March and ends in May or June. There are longer holidays between trimesters: they usually last 1-2 weeks. Summer holidays remain, but may be slightly shorter.
If the school has chosen a trimester system, then the vacation schedule looks different than in the quarter learning model. Four weeks of rest are provided throughout the year, divided between study modules.
In the 2025/26 academic year, the approximate 1st week of rest will fall on October 6-12, 2025, and the 2nd week of rest will fall on November 17-23, 2025. Winter holidays begin on December 29, 2025 and end on January 11, 2026, after which students leave for school on January 12. On February 17-23, 2026, schoolchildren will have their 4th week of rest, followed by spring break from March 30 to April 5, 2026. Summer holidays will traditionally begin on June 1. The schedule can be adjusted if the educational institution uses a mixed schedule or an individual plan.
What is important for parents to know
According to the current procedure, each school has the right to make changes to the academic schedule, taking into account weather conditions, the epidemic situation or the recommendations of Rospotrebnadzor. Before planning trips or enrolling in camps, it is worth checking the official calendar posted on the school's website.
With the quarter model, the dates of the educational process may vary slightly from school to school, so it is important to clarify the official schedule in advance in order to avoid overlaps with tickets and reservations. This is especially true for winter holidays, which often coincide with New Year's holidays and high demand for travel.
Before the end of the quarter, there is usually an increased workload — tests, tests, projects. If you plan a trip in the last days of the quarter, it is worth remembering that after the holidays a new educational topic often begins, so it is important that the rest does not knock the student out of the regime. It is better to devote short autumn and spring holidays to relaxing holidays, and in winter you can allow a longer trip.
With the trimester vacation model, it is also important to specify the dates of school holidays in advance. It is worth remembering that, although trimesters reduce the workload due to frequent breaks, there may be tests or tests before each new period. When planning a trip, it is worth making sure that the child has time to prepare. If the holidays are short, it is better to choose a vacation without long acclimatization, so as not to break the regime before returning to school.
If the school schedule does not match the parents' work, you can consider camps with educational programs or short local trips. Some schools offer the opportunity to take a child for a few days during the school term — this should be discussed with teachers in advance. The main thing is to coordinate the plans with the educational process so that the rest benefits, and not to the detriment of academic performance.
For graduates (grades 9 and 11), spring and summer vacations may be shortened due to the exam campaign. Rosobrnadzor will publish the updated dates of the OGE and the Unified State Exam for 2026 closer to spring.
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