School holidays in Poland 2026/2027: winter break 2027 and days off

Polish winter school holidays in 2027 come in three periods, depending on the voivodeship (province). Each lasts two weeks, from Monday to Sunday:

• 18-31 January 2027 - Dolnośląskie, Łódzkie, Opolskie, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Śląskie,
• 1-14 February 2027 - Lubelskie, Mazowieckie (including Warsaw), Pomorskie, Świętokrzyskie,
• 15-28 February 2027 - Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Lubuskie, Małopolskie (including Kraków), Warmińsko-Mazurskie, Wielkopolskie (including Poznań), Zachodniopomorskie.

The Ministry of National Education published these dates on gov.pl on 16 May 2025 and confirmed them in the 2026/2027 school calendar of 15 May 2026. They apply to schools in the given voivodeship.

The ministry has also announced the winter holidays for the 2027/2028 school year (notice of 2 April 2026):

• 17-30 January 2028 - Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Lubuskie, Podlaskie, Pomorskie, Świętokrzyskie, Wielkopolskie, Zachodniopomorskie,
• 31 January - 13 February 2028 - Łódzkie, Mazowieckie, Podkarpackie, Warmińsko-Mazurskie,
• 14-27 February 2028 - Dolnośląskie, Lubelskie, Małopolskie, Opolskie, Śląskie.

The regulation requires the minister to announce winter holiday dates by the end of June, two years before the year they take place. Dates for January and February 2029 (school year 2028/2029) should therefore appear by the end of June 2027.

Yes, there are no lessons. 14 October is National Education Day (Dzień Edukacji Narodowej), and Article 74 of the Teachers' Charter makes it a day without lessons. The school year regulation does not list this day.

In 2026 it falls on a Wednesday and in 2027 on a Thursday. It is not a public holiday for workers, so parents and teachers still work. A school may also set a headteacher day before or after it, but that is the school's own decision.

No. 2 May (Flag Day) is neither a public holiday nor a day without classes. The days off are 1 May (Labour Day) and 3 May (Constitution Day).

In 2027, 1 May is a Saturday, 2 May a Sunday and 3 May a Monday, so there is no bridge day to plan around. In 2028, 1 May is a Monday, 2 May a Tuesday and 3 May a Wednesday. Tuesday 2 May 2028 is then a regular school day unless the headteacher sets it as a headteacher day.

The Christmas break in the 2026/2027 school year runs from 23 to 31 December 2026. The regulation fixes it at 23-31 December, or 22-31 December when 22 December is a Monday (as in 2025).

Christmas Eve (Thursday 24 December 2026) has been a public holiday since 2025. New Year's Day 2027 is a Friday and 2-3 January are a weekend, so pupils return on Monday 4 January 2027. A headteacher can extend the break with headteacher days, which this tool does not know.

The Easter break in 2027 runs from 25 to 30 March. It starts on the Thursday before Easter (Easter Sunday is 28 March 2027) and ends on the Tuesday after. Easter Monday, 29 March, is a public holiday. Classes resume on Wednesday 31 March 2027.

In the 2027/2028 school year Easter falls on 16 April 2028, so the break runs from 13 to 18 April 2028. This date is calculated from the regulation, because the ministry has not yet published the calendar for that year.

The 2026/2027 school year ends on Friday 25 June 2027. Summer holidays run from 26 June to 31 August 2027. The regulation sets the last day of classes as the first Friday after 20 June (20 June 2027 is a Sunday). If the Thursday before that Friday were a public holiday, for example Corpus Christi, the year would end on the Wednesday. In 2027 Corpus Christi is on 27 May, so this does not apply.

Final-year classes of general secondary schools (liceum), technical schools and second-stage vocational schools finish earlier, on the last Friday of April: 30 April 2027. The 2027/2028 school year starts on Wednesday 1 September 2027 and, according to the regulation, ends on Friday 23 June 2028.

There are no classes on public holidays. Five of them fall on a weekday outside the Christmas and Easter breaks in the 2026/2027 school year:

• Wednesday 11 November 2026 - Independence Day,
• Friday 1 January 2027 - New Year's Day,
• Wednesday 6 January 2027 - Epiphany,
• Monday 3 May 2027 - Constitution Day,
• Thursday 27 May 2027 - Corpus Christi.

The other holidays fall on a weekend (1 November, 1 May, Easter Sunday, Pentecost) or inside a break (24-26 December, Easter Monday). Friday 28 May 2027, the day after Corpus Christi, is not a holiday, but a headteacher may set it as a day off. To plan leave around holidays, use the Poland public holidays and long weekends calendar, and check working days with Is today a holiday in Poland?.

A headteacher can set extra days without classes during the school year, known in Polish as dni dyrektorskie. The limit depends on the school type (Section 5(1) of the regulation):

• primary schools - up to 8 days,
• general secondary schools (liceum) - up to 10 days,
• technical schools, first- and second-stage vocational schools, post-secondary schools and vocational education centres - up to 10 days,
• special schools preparing pupils for work - up to 4 days.

They can fall on exam days, on religious holidays that are not public holidays, or on other days if the school's organisation justifies it. The headteacher announces them by 30 September, and the school must provide care for pupils on those days. This tool does not know them, so check your school's notice before planning a trip. In justified cases the headteacher can add further days, with the consent of the school's managing authority, if the lessons are made up on Saturdays.

The director of the Central Examination Board (CKE) published the 2027 exam schedule on 20 August 2026:

• eighth-grade exam - 10 May (Polish), 11 May (mathematics) and 12 May 2027 (foreign language); make-up dates 9-11 June; results on 6 July,
• matura, written part - 4 to 24 May 2027 (Polish at basic level on 4 May, mathematics at basic level on 5 May); oral part 6 to 31 May,
• matura, make-up written part - 1 to 16 June; matura results on 9 July,
• matura, retake session - 23 August (written) and 24 August 2027 (oral).

Vocational exams have separate CKE schedules. A headteacher may set a headteacher day on days when an exam takes place in their school, so check the school notice in May.

Dates for winter holidays and breaks come from Ministry of National Education notices on gov.pl: the 2026/2027 school calendar (15 May 2026), the 2026/2027 winter holiday dates and the 2027/2028 winter holiday dates. The rules come from the school year regulation (Journal of Laws 2017 item 1603, consolidated text 2023 item 1211), and the 14 October rule from the Teachers' Charter (Art. 74). Exam dates are from the CKE notice. All sources were checked on 12 October 2026. These sources are in Polish.

The regulation covers public schools and institutions, except art schools and schools in juvenile correctional facilities. In schools it does not cover, the calendar may differ.