Everything you should know about school holidays, important dates in Hungary

The Hungarian government usually publishes a decree in August each year setting out the order of the academic year starting in September. This decree includes the school holidays and the most important dates in Hungary. In August last year, the good news emerged that the winter and spring breaks for the 2023/24 school year would be longer than what students had got used to. Find everything you should know about school holidays and important dates in Hungary below.

Academic year in kindergartens

In theory, kindergartens do not have summer holidays in Hungary, but in practice, they do. This is possible because there is no summer holiday, but a closed season, according to Index. This time can be used to renovate kindergartens and give teachers time off. Moreover, experts say it is also important for children to be at home with their parents – which, obviously, is a difficult thing for many parents to manage since workplaces do not have a summer holiday.

The kindergarten “education” year runs from 1 September to 31 August of the following year. However, although they can’t call it a summer holiday, kindergartens can close for up to a month and a half during summer.

Kindergarten graduation/farewell ceremony usually takes place between the beginning and middle of June.

Important dates in Hungary: primary and high schools

Unlike nurseries, schools have breaks: summer, autumn, winter, and spring breaks. Typically, the autumn holiday lasts one week around Halloween/All Saints’ Day, the winter break lasts two to three weeks in December and January, the spring break is around one week which is connected to the Easter holiday, and the summer holiday, which is the longest of all, lasts around two months.