MOE School Holidays 2027: Long Weekends for Family Trips

Singapore's 2027 MOE school vacations fall on 13–21 March, 29 May–27 June, 4–12 September and 20 November–31 December. For parents working Monday to Friday, five public-holiday weekends also line up with children's days off without needing annual leave: New Year, Chinese New Year, Good Friday, Hari Raya Haji and National Day.

Several school-only holidays create further options if a parent takes leave. Chinese New Year and National Day can each become a four-day family break with one day of leave.

Dates were checked on 26 October 2026 against MOE's 2027 school terms and holidays and MOM's 2027 public holidays. This guide covers MOE primary and secondary schools; check separate calendars for international schools, polytechnics and other institutions.

When are the MOE school holidays in 2027?

These are the four vacation periods in MOE's official 2027 release. The day counts include both the first and last dates.

For the start of the year, Primary 1 and secondary students report on Monday 4 January; Primary 2 to 6 start on Tuesday 5 January. The usual final term ends on Friday 19 November. Schools used as venues for the Singapore-Cambridge Secondary Education Certificate (SEC) written examinations have an earlier final term day, Friday 29 October. Confirm your child's arrangements with the school before using that earlier date for a booking.

Five family long weekends with no annual leave

These calculations assume a parent works Monday to Friday, has weekends off and observes the listed public holidays. Leave figures are per working parent, before any employer-granted replacement days off. School activities and examination commitments still need checking.

The public-holiday dates come from MOM's 2027 announcement; the family windows are our calendar calculations. Monday 8 February is the public holiday following the Sunday Chinese New Year holiday.

Good Friday falls after the March vacation: school resumes on 22 March before the separate 26–28 March weekend. Joining those two breaks into one trip would include school days.

School-only holidays: when parents need leave

A school holiday can give a child a longer break while a parent still has to work. These windows avoid scheduled primary or secondary school days, subject to the level restrictions shown.

School closures are listed in MOE's scheduled holidays and off-in-lieu notes. Teachers' Day also leads straight into the September vacation, so a longer trip is possible as explained below.

*An employer may already give the parent that day off. Under MOM's public-holiday rules, a Saturday public holiday on a non-working day can be compensated with another day off or salary in lieu. Do not assume the following Monday is automatically a public holiday for every parent. Check your employer's arrangements for Labour Day and Christmas, and any replacement day for the Saturday Chinese New Year holiday.

For childcare planning, MOE explicitly says schools, their general offices, Student Care Centres and KCare Centres close on 9 February, 3 May and 27 December. Ask your centre about its arrangements on the other school holidays before relying on a place or booking a programme.

Can you take nine days off in May without missing school?

The 15–23 May 2027 stretch gives a Monday-to-Friday worker nine days away from work using three days of annual leave: 18, 19 and 21 May. Hari Raya Haji falls on Monday 17 May and Vesak Day on Thursday 20 May, according to MOM's public-holiday list.

For MOE primary and secondary pupils, 18, 19 and 21 May are school days within Term 2. The nine-day trip would therefore require missing three school days. The school-compatible option is the shorter 15–17 May weekend, or a trip during the June vacation beginning 29 May. The term dates are in MOE's 2027 calendar release.

The same check matters at Deepavali. Thursday 28 October is a public holiday, but Friday 29 October remains a scheduled school day, including the listed final term day for SEC examination-venue schools. Taking Friday off work creates an adult four-day weekend; it does not create a four-day school holiday.

Are the September school holidays nine or ten days?

The official September vacation is 4–12 September 2027, which is nine days. Teachers' Day on Friday 3 September makes 3–12 September ten consecutive days without scheduled school for primary and secondary pupils. Both dates are confirmed in MOE's release.

For a parent on a Monday-to-Friday schedule, taking the full ten days requires six days of annual leave: 3 September and 6–10 September. Taking 4–12 September requires five. Teachers' Day itself is a school holiday, so it does not reduce the parent's leave requirement.

For comparison, a nine-day trip within the March or June vacation normally uses five working days of leave too. Choose the dates after checking any school commitments, rather than assuming the whole published vacation is free of activities.

Before booking travel in a PSLE or SEC year

Check the child's own examination timetable before paying for flights. At our October 2026 check, SEAB's Important Dates for Candidates still listed 2026 examination timetables. Check for the 2027 timetable when it is published, and ask the school about its assessments, preparation lessons and other attendance requirements. Do not carry a previous year's PSLE, oral or marking dates into a 2027 booking.

For Secondary 4 students taking the SEC, an earlier final term date at an examination-venue school does not establish that the child's examinations have finished. Use the last required paper and the school's instructions to decide when travel can begin.

How to fit holiday enrichment around a family trip

Put confirmed travel and school commitments into the calendar before choosing a programme. Then decide what the remaining days need to provide: care while parents work, an activity the child wants to try, or help with a particular subject.

Before paying a deposit, check:

• The actual dates and hours. A morning workshop may still leave an afternoon to cover. Confirm which days run when a public holiday falls within the programme.
• Who the programme is for. Check the child's age or school level, what they will learn and whether they need prior knowledge.
• Attendance and cancellation terms. Ask what happens if travel changes or the child misses a day, and whether a minimum number of days must be booked.
• Existing weekly classes. Tell the centre about travel before booking and check its holiday timetable and absence policy.

For subject revision, bring a recent piece of work and identify the questions the child needs help with before choosing a course. Families planning PSLE maths support can use our guide to what useful PSLE maths revision involves to make that decision more specific.