Who sets school term dates?

The London borough of Waltham Forest has a duty to set school term and holiday dates for community, voluntary controlled, community special schools and maintained nurseries in its area as per Section 32 of the Education Act 2002.

Statutory school opening and setting of INSET days

Schools have a statutory obligation to open for at least 380 sessions or 190 days during any school year to educate their pupils. 

The terms dates that Waltham Forest Council provides ensure that the minimum level of ‘pupil days’ are reached by working to a 195 day academic year. This allows schools to allocate up to 5 INSET days (staff training days) each academic year. The date for INSET days are set by individual schools.