The 2026/27 school calendar is signed off (and 19 of its 36 days off land at Christmas)
Despacho 10430/2026, published on 21 August, settles the full year rather than just the start: three breaks totalling 36 days, and an end date that is staggered by year group, with the youngest children in school until 30 June.
The start dates have been known since early August. What was missing was the instrument that makes them binding and settles the rest of the year, and it appeared in the official gazette on 21 August: Despacho 10430/2026, which amends the multi-year framework and sets the 2026/27 school calendar.
The September picture, briefly. Pre-school and the three cycles of basic education go back between the 11th and the 15th, with each school cluster choosing its own day inside that window, which is how two children on the same street end up starting on different mornings. Upper-secondary academic courses begin on the 21st, ten days later, following the decision we covered at the start of the month.
How long each break lasts
Christmas runs from 16 December to 3 January. That is 19 consecutive days, comfortably the longest break of the year, and the one that catches working parents out when it comes to arranging cover.
Carnival gives three days, 8 to 10 February. Easter gives fourteen, 22 March to 4 April. Together the three account for 36 days, more than half of them packed into a single fortnight in December.
When it all ends
The end of the year is staggered, and the order follows the exams. Years 9, 11 and 12 finish on 4 June 2027 to make room for final assessments and national exams. Years 5 to 8 and year 10 follow on 11 June. Pre-school and the first cycle carry on until 30 June, which means the youngest children are in school for nearly four weeks longer than the oldest ones. Worth knowing before you book anything.
If you have recently moved to Portugal and are still working out how enrolment functions, we have a guide to school registration for newly arrived families.
Chart: Tugadaily, with data from Despacho 10430/2026
