What is an occasional day? The extra day off Hertfordshire and Devon schools take (2026–27)

An occasional day is a weekday in term time when a school closes for an extra day's holiday, on top of the published term dates and the school's five inset days. It is a local custom, not a national rule: Hertfordshire builds one a year into the calendar its community and voluntary-controlled schools follow, Devon recommends two, and the school picks the date. Almost every 2026–27 date we checked falls on a Friday or a Monday between Friday 13 November and Tuesday 1 December 2026.

What is an occasional day?

An occasional day (some schools say "occasional holiday") is a day off that the school adds to the published term dates. Nobody is training; the schools that publish one just say "school closed". Few parents have heard of it: we found only two English councils that build one in.

The arithmetic explains it. Devon's term dates page puts it as schools being required by the Education (School Day and School Year) (England) Regulations 1999 "to open for 195 days, of which pupils should attend for 190 days". The regulations themselves are narrower: regulation 3 requires "at least 380 sessions", which is 190 pupil days. The 195 is the teacher year in the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document, of which at most 190 may be teaching days. The five-day difference is the inset days. Hertfordshire's term-dates page then draws its calendar one day longer: "School and teacher representatives set an annual window of 196 days. Schools must divide the days between: 190 days pupil attendance, 5 professional development days, 1 day for occasional holiday." Devon does the same with two, describing "an academic year of 197 school days (including two occasional days and five staff training days)". So the occasional day is not a bonus on top of the year: it is the day left loose once teaching and training days are counted out.

Neither council publishes an origin for the custom, and we are not inventing one.

Which schools have an occasional day?

Hertfordshire

The county's page is explicit: "Community and voluntary-controlled schools must use the above term dates, adding 5 INSET days and 1 Occasional day where children don't need to go to school." Our Hertfordshire term dates page carries the council's 2026–27 calendar — October half term Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026, autumn term ending Friday 18 December 2026 — but not the occasional day, because each school sets its own. Schools' 2026–27 pages show, for example:

• Sir John Lawes School, Harpenden: Monday 23 November 2026.
• Roselands Primary School, Hoddesdon: Friday 27 November 2026, plus a staff training day on Monday 30 November: a four-day weekend.
• The Broxbourne School, Broxbourne: Friday 27 November 2026, with an inset day the day before, Thursday 26 November.
• The Highfield School, Letchworth Garden City: Friday 27 November 2026.

Devon

Devon publishes the longer calendar and leaves the choice to governors: schools "should set two days of occasional holiday and five staff training days from the 197 recommended by the Council", placed, it recommends, "to avoid split week holidays".

Independent schools

A few independent schools use the term too, with no council involved. In the 2026–27 calendars we read, these publish one:

One school in the register takes two in a row: Music Stuff in Manchester, an independent school following the council's calendar, publishes occasional holidays on Monday 30 November and Tuesday 1 December 2026 — a reminder that the number is the school's to choose. Elsewhere, a "school closed" day in November is far more likely to be an inset day.

When does the occasional day usually fall?

Late autumn, on a Friday or a Monday. Every date above sits in the long stretch between October half term and Christmas, when nothing else breaks up the term. Schools pick the day to make a long weekend, and some stretch it to four with a training day, as Roselands and The Broxbourne School have. It is not a day off in lieu, either: The King's School in Harpenden also closes on Friday 2 October 2026, logged separately as a "day off in lieu of Open Day morning on Sat 3 Oct".

Occasional day vs inset day vs "occasional place"

Three phrases get muddled; one is not a day off at all.

The inset day is the one most parents know. An occasional place is an admissions term, common at selective independents: St Paul's Girls' School's occasional places page says "places occasionally become available for entry into Year 8, Year 9 and Year 10", and that they depend on current students leaving.

Do academies and free schools have to take it?

No. The council's calendar binds only community and voluntary-controlled schools. Hertfordshire says "academies, voluntary-aided, foundation and free schools aren't required to follow the above term dates", and Devon that "academies and free schools are not bound by the 1999 Regulations". An academy may keep the day, drop it or fold it into its inset days, so the school's own page is the only source of truth.

How to find your school's occasional day

1. School website, then Term dates: look for "occasional day", "occasional holiday" or "school closed" on a Friday or Monday in November.
2. If the page only shows the council's dates, the school has not added its own closures yet; wait for the autumn newsletter.
3. Check both schools if you have children at two; they can take different Fridays.
4. Book cover the day you learn the date: holiday clubs rarely open for one school's closure, so it is usually a swap or a day of leave.

Frequently asked

Is an occasional day the same as an inset day?

No. An inset day is a staff training day: the school is closed to pupils but teachers are working. An occasional day is an extra holiday added to the published term dates, and the schools that publish one describe it simply as school closed. Hertfordshire schools take one a year and Devon schools two.

When is the occasional day in Hertfordshire schools in 2026-27?

There is no single county date, because each school chooses its own. Of the Hertfordshire schools we checked, Sir John Lawes School takes Monday 23 November 2026, while Roselands Primary School, The Broxbourne School and The Highfield School all take Friday 27 November 2026. Your school's own term-dates page is the only place its date is published.

How many occasional days do schools get?

Hertfordshire's council calendar runs to 196 days so that community and voluntary-controlled schools can take five inset days and one occasional day and still teach for 190. Devon recommends a 197-day year covering two occasional days and five staff training days. We did not find another English council that builds one in.

Do academies and free schools have to take an occasional day?

No. Academies, free, foundation and voluntary-aided schools are not required to follow the council's term dates in Hertfordshire, and Devon notes that academies and free schools are not bound by the 1999 Regulations. They can keep the occasional day, drop it or fold it into their inset days, so check the school's own calendar rather than the council's.

What is an occasional place at a school?

An occasional place is an admissions term, not a day off. It means a school place that becomes available outside the usual entry years when a pupil leaves. Selective independent schools such as St Paul's Girls' School advertise them for Years 8, 9 and 10 when they arise.

The day the county calendar does not know about

An occasional day is the perfect ambush: it sits on the school's own page, not the council's, announced once in a newsletter and then assumed. Forward that email to Fred, snap the letter or send a voice note, and the extra November day off lands on the family calendar with a reminder to the right parent, in time to book cover rather than after. Fred lives in WhatsApp, so there is no app to install. First month free, no card needed.