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School terms 2028
Term 1 opens on Wednesday 12 January 2028 and term 4 closes on Wednesday 6 December 2028: 200 school days for public schools in every province, as the 2028 calendar in the Government Gazette sets it.
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- 200School days
- 43Weeks
- 4Terms
The four terms
| Term | Opens | Closes | Weeks | School days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Term 1 | (10 January 2028) Wednesday 12 January 2028 | Friday 17 March 2028 | 10 | 48 (50) |
| Term 2 | Tuesday 28 March 2028 | Wednesday 14 June 2028 | 12 | 52 |
| Term 3 | Tuesday 11 July 2028 | Friday 22 September 2028 | 11 | 53 |
| Term 4 | Tuesday 3 October 2028 | Wednesday 6 December 2028 (8 December 2028) | 10 | 47 (49) |
| The year | 43 | 200 |
The notice’s summary prints some dates and day counts a second time in brackets, for example “(10) 12 January”. We show them as printed; the notice does not say in words what they mean.
Holidays the calendar lists
Special school holiday: Friday 28 April 2028.
Public holidays, as the notice lists them (they are the same days as on our public holidays page for 2028):
- Saturday 1 January 2028: New Year’s Day
- Tuesday 21 March 2028: Human Rights Day
- Friday 14 April 2028: Good Friday
- Monday 17 April 2028: Family Day
- Thursday 27 April 2028: Freedom Day
- Monday 1 May 2028: Workers’ Day
- Friday 16 June 2028: Youth Day
- Wednesday 9 August 2028: National Women’s Day
- Sunday 24 September 2028: Heritage Day
- Monday 25 September 2028: Public Holiday
- Saturday 16 December 2028: Day of Reconciliation
- Monday 25 December 2028: Christmas Day
- Tuesday 26 December 2028: Day of Goodwill
Where this is printed
Government Gazette 55619, No. 8081, page 4, published 23 October 2026: “National Education Policy Act (27/1996): 2028 Calendar for public schools”.
Which years we hold
We hold the calendar for 2028. The 2026 and 2027 calendars are not here yet. The Minister gazettes each year’s calendar about a year ahead, and we are reading the earlier notices from the Government Printing Works’ archive one at a time; they are added here as they arrive.
The notice’s summary prints some dates and day counts a second time in brackets, for example “(10) 12 January”. We show them as printed; the notice does not say in words what they mean. Independent schools set their own terms.
Source: the Minister of Basic Education’s “Calendar for public schools” under the National Education Policy Act 27 of 1996, as published in the Government Gazette, read from the Government Printing Works’ copies. Dataset: school terms, release 2026-11-13.