Ministry Publishes 2027 Academic Calendar for Schools and Teacher Training Colleges
Learners to report on January 4 as Term One kicks off; national assessments and KCSE set for November
The Ministry of Education has released the 2027 academic calendar for pre-primary, primary, junior, senior and secondary schools, as well as diploma teacher training colleges.
The calendar sets out when learners and trainees will report, when they will break for holidays and when national examinations will be held.
The calendar was issued in a circular dated October 19, 2026, from the Office of the Principal Secretary, State Department for Basic Education.
It was signed by Principal Secretary John L. Ololtuaa and addressed to regional, county and sub-county directors of education, who are expected to distribute it to all institutions of basic education.
Copies went to the Cabinet Secretary for Education, the Chief Executive Officers of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) and the Council of Governors.
Pre-primary, primary and junior schools
For pre-primary, primary and junior schools, the year opens with Term One on January 4, 2027. The term runs for 14 weeks and closes on April 9. A half-term break of nine days will be observed from February 19 to February 28.
The April holiday follows, lasting three weeks from April 10 to May 2.
Term Two begins on May 3 and runs for 13 weeks until July 30. Learners will have an 11-day half-term break from June 9 to June 20. The August holiday, which lasts four weeks, starts on July 31 and ends on August 29.
Term Three is the shortest of the three, running for 10 weeks from August 30 to November 5. It also carries the national assessments for the primary and junior levels.
The circular lists the KPSEA, KILEA, KJSEA and KPLEA, which fall under the KNEC primary and junior assessments. These will be administered over five days, from November 1 to November 5, in the final week of the term.
Schools close on November 5, and the long December holiday runs for eight weeks from November 8 until January 3, 2028.
Senior and secondary schools
Senior and secondary schools follow a largely similar structure, with a few differences in term length and break duration that reflect the demands of the final examination.
Term One opens on January 4 and runs for 13 weeks, closing on April 2. The half-term break is 10 days, from February 19 to February 28.
The April holiday starts on April 3 and ends on May 2, giving students four weeks away from school, a week longer than their counterparts in primary and junior school.
Term Two runs from May 3 to July 30, also 13 weeks. The mid-term break is slightly longer than in the lower levels, at 12 days from June 9 to June 20. The August holiday is the same as for the lower levels: four weeks, from July 31 to August 29.
Term Three begins on August 30 and ends on November 5, a period of 10 weeks. The Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination is scheduled for November 8 to November 26, which the circular puts at three weeks.
The December holiday for the secondary level is given as November 6 to January 3, 2028, a period of eight weeks.
Teacher training colleges
Diploma teacher training colleges follow a separate calendar. They open on January 5, 2027, a day after the schools, and the calendar is arranged around different term labels.
The first block of the year is labelled Term Two. It runs for 13 weeks from January 5 to April 2. A three-week April holiday follows, from April 5 to April 23.
The next block, labelled Term Three, runs for 14 weeks from April 26 to July 30. Trainees then break for three weeks in August, from August 2 to August 20.
The final block of the year is labelled Term One. It starts on August 23 and ends on November 12, a period of 11 weeks. The December holiday for colleges lasts eight weeks, from November 15 to January 8, 2028.
The circular does not explain the ordering of the college terms, which suggests the colleges are operating on a cycle that differs from the January-to-November sequence used by schools.
What the calendar means for schools and families
For most households, the calendar’s practical value lies in the dates around which family and school-fee planning revolve.
The year begins on the same date, January 4, for all learners from pre-primary to senior school. That should make it easier for families with children at different levels to plan reporting day, school shopping and transport.
The three half-term breaks and three main holidays are also aligned across the school levels. Half-term breaks fall on the same dates, with February 19 as the start and June 9 as the start of the mid-year break. The August holiday is identical for all levels, running from July 31 to August 29.
Where the levels differ is in the length of the breaks, not their starting points. That should help families whose children attend different schools to schedule travel and holiday activities.
The final term is the most important for examination candidates. Primary and junior learners sit their assessments in the last week of Term Three, while Form Four candidates, who sit KCSE, will continue into November after the rest of the school has closed. The ministry has allocated three weeks for the KCSE, from November 8 to November 26.
Dates to note
For quick reference, the key dates for schools are:
- Term One: January 4 to April 2 (secondary) or April 9 (pre-primary, primary and junior)
- Term Two: May 3 to July 30
- Term Three: August 30 to November 5
- Half terms: February 19 to 28 and June 9 to 20
- Primary and junior assessments: November 1 to 5
- KCSE: November 8 to 26
- Schools reopen after the December holiday: January 2028, with the break running to January 3
Teacher training colleges open on January 5 and close for the year on November 12.
Implementation
The circular is addressed to education officials at the regional, county and sub-county levels, who have been told to circulate it to all institutions of basic education.
Head teachers, principals and boards of management are expected to align school programmes, including fee structures, co-curricular activities and parent meetings, with the official calendar.
Parents who want to confirm the dates for their children’s schools can do so through their school administration or the sub-county education office.
The calendar’s inclusion of the TSC, KNEC and the Council of Governors on the circulation list reflects how many agencies rely on it, from teacher deployment and examination administration to county-level education programmes.
With the 2027 calendar now public, schools and families have a little over two months before the school year starts on January 4.
The calendar is expected to remain the reference document for the year, and any change to the dates would have to be communicated through a fresh circular from the Ministry of Education.