Camden School Term Dates: Pupils Back 2 to 7 September

Camden Council says the autumn term runs from Wednesday 2 September to Friday 18 December 2026. Almost no school in the borough is actually working to that first date.

We checked the published term dates of nine Camden schools. Only one, Eleanor Palmer Primary in Kentish Town, has all its pupils in on Wednesday 2 September. The rest start on the Thursday, the Friday or, at Brookfield Primary in Dartmouth Park, the following Monday.

The council does say so, in a line above its own table: “Some Camden schools have different term dates to those given on this page. Check with your child’s school before making any holiday plans. Inset days are set by the individual school.” (Camden Council)

That warning is easy to scroll past. The gap it covers is up to five days.

First day back, school by school

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Acland Burghley is staggered by year group

Acland Burghley in Tufnell Park published the most detailed arrangements of the nine, and no two year groups are treated the same:

• Year 7 arrives at 8.35am on Thursday 3 September for “a full induction and timetabled day”.
• Years 8 to 11 arrive at 1.40pm on Thursday 3 September to collect timetables, planners and key information, then at 8.35am on Friday 4 September for lessons.
• Year 12 has induction on Thursday 3 and Friday 4 September.
• Year 13 is not needed on the Thursday and attends on Friday 4 September to collect a timetable.
• All sixth form lessons start on Monday 7 September.

So a family with a Year 7 and a Year 13 at the same school has two different first mornings. (Acland Burghley School, 17 July 2026)

October half term is not the same week everywhere either

The council gives half term as Monday 26 to Friday 30 October. Two of the nine schools add a day on the end, so children are back on Tuesday 3 November rather than the Monday:

• Camden School for Girls publishes its half term as Monday 26 October to Monday 2 November.
• Eleanor Palmer Primary keeps 26 to 30 October but has a staff training day on Monday 2 November.

There are more training days later in the term. Parliament Hill and Haverstock both close to pupils on Friday 27 November, and Camden School for Girls on Wednesday 18 November, with two further days it has not yet fixed.

January is not clean either. The council’s spring term starts on Monday 4 January 2027, but William Ellis, Eleanor Palmer and Torriano all list that Monday as a staff training day and bring pupils back on Tuesday 5 January.

Read the table and the INSET list together

One practical trap is worth knowing about. A school’s headline table can give the council’s date while its INSET list quietly takes the first days back.

Torriano Primary’s term dates page is a clear example. Its table says the autumn term starts on 2 September 2026. Its list of INSET days, further down the same page, gives Wednesday 2 September and Thursday 3 September. Children start on Friday 4 September. The same page also dates the October half term to 2025 rather than 2026, a year out. (Torriano Primary School)

Why the dates differ at all

Camden sets term dates only for the schools it maintains, and even then the individual school decides its five staff training days. Academies and free schools set their own calendar outright and do not have to follow the council at all.

That is why a borough-wide date is a starting point rather than an answer. It is also why the council tells you, in its own words, to check with the school before booking anything.

What it means for you

• Check your own school’s page, not the council’s, before booking childcare, travel or time off. The difference in Camden this month runs from Wednesday 2 September to Monday 7 September.
• If you have children at two schools, check both. Six of the nine schools here start on Thursday 3 September, but the primaries in this list are the ones that start latest.
• Look for the INSET list, not just the term table. Where the two disagree, the INSET days win, because they are days the school is shut to pupils.
• Note Friday 27 November now. Two of the borough’s larger secondaries are already closed to pupils that day.
• Term ends on Friday 18 December at all nine, though Regent High dismisses at 12.30pm and Eleanor Palmer at 1.30pm.

If you are driving the school run, the roads are busier from this week and there are new closures across the borough, including a lane shut on Hampstead Road at the Euston Road junction from today. Our Camden roadworks and travel page lists what is dug up and until when.

Sources

• Camden Council, School term dates, read 1 September 2026, for the borough’s determined 2026/27 dates, the public holiday table and the warning that schools may differ.
• Acland Burghley School, Start of term arrangements, 17 July 2026, for the year-group timings.
• Parliament Hill School term dates, Haverstock School term dates, Regent High School important dates, Camden School for Girls term dates, William Ellis School term dates and Acland Burghley School term dates.
• Torriano Primary School term dates, Eleanor Palmer Primary School term dates and Brookfield Primary School term dates.

Nine schools is a sample, not the whole borough. The only date that governs your family is the one your own school publishes.