Many parents find themselves arranging their vacations based on their children’s school breaks, but an expert is calling for a change in this practice. The cost of summer holidays can be exorbitant for families due to peak travel times, leading many to reluctantly take their children out of school during term time to save money on their trips.
Julia Lo Bue-Said, the CEO of the Advantage Travel Partnership, is pushing for significant adjustments to school calendars, citing rising temperatures in the Mediterranean that make summer vacations more challenging for families.
Currently, school holidays in England and Wales span from late July to early September. Lo Bue-Said proposes shortening these holidays by two weeks and redistributing the saved time to the existing one-week half terms in May and October.
She emphasized that changing the school holiday structure would benefit children’s well-being and provide relief for families and teachers who feel constrained to travel only during school breaks. Lo Bue-Said highlighted the trend of families avoiding destinations with scorching 40C temperatures in Europe during peak summer months.
Parents who opt to take their children out of school during term time currently face fines of £80 or more. Lo Bue-Said pointed out the increasing fines imposed by schools on families traveling outside of official holiday periods and stressed the necessity of reevaluating the school calendar to accommodate shifting travel patterns.
By spreading out the demand for vacations throughout the year, Lo Bue-Said believes holiday prices could decrease, benefiting both families and the travel industry. Families in Scotland, with slightly different summer holiday dates, can take advantage of cheaper travel deals from English airports during the early part of the break.
In Northern Ireland, schools close for the entire months of July and August, while many schools in England are now academies with the flexibility to set their own holiday schedules. Some academies have already adopted a five-week summer break and a two-week break in October.
According to the BBC, Surrey’s county council plans to align with this model for all supported schools starting in autumn 2026. A survey by Parentkind, a charity supporting parent-teacher organizations, revealed that 53% of parents prefer a four-week summer holiday, with the percentage increasing to 60% among families with children with special educational needs.