School Terms | South Africa | SchoolGuide

Your Guide to 2022  School Terms and Holiday Dates in South Africa.

South African public schools follow four school terms and public holidays set out by the Department of Basic Education. Private schools including pre-primary schools set their own school calendars, with either 4 terms or 3 terms with short mid-term breaks.

With 2022 School Terms and Public Holidays calendars you can start to plan family holidays and vacations. 

December Holidays and holidays 2022

Each school year a minimum of 200 full school days must be attended by South African learners. Each term cannot have more than 60 days or less than 43.

It is also DBE policy to ensure that there are no public holidays during the first or last week of school term, which disrupt academic work. The fourth and last school term of each year must end in the second week of December.

 Public Schools Calendar 2022
Free State, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga & North West
 Public Schools Calendar 2022
Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Ntal, Northern Cape, Western Cape
Term Opens Closes
First 12 January 17 March
Second 5 April 24 June
Third 19 July 30 September
Fourth 11 October 14 December
Term Opens Closes
First 19 January 25 March
Second 5 April 24 June
Third 19 July 30 September
Fourth 11 October 14 December

How SA School terms work

All nine provinces: KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape , Western Cape , Northern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, North-West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga follow the Department of Basic Education 4 term School Holidays calendars.

We will keep our calendars updated, but before finalizing please see the Department of Basic Education for any updates that may occur.

It is always a good idea to double check whether your public primary or high school follows this calendar. Pre-Primary School Holidays may have their own holiday dates, and if you are lucky enough may be open during standard South African public school holidays. Private Schools in South Africa generally set their own School term and holiday calendars.

Holiday Planning

Keeping the kids entertained during school breaks can be a hard task – but with our printable calendars we’ll help you to get the kids booked into their favourite holiday camps or help you plan your perfect family vacation and get that much needed time together.

There is still time to make the most of the upcoming end of year break, the secret is early planning. Take care of the admin and logistics and you are sure to have an epic family holiday.

Planning around School terms is essential, taking traffic and holiday bookings into consideration. The Best Holiday destinations in South Africa are busiest during school holidays, especially Easter weekend and Christmas Break. Christmas break is the longest school break where the kids and adults alike to advantage of the long summers.

 Overseas Visitors

If you are planning an overseas holiday to South Africa these school calendars are useful. To avoid the bustle of local holiday makers the best times to visit South Africa and take advantage of our sunny summer days October/November and January/February. Or perhaps you are planning to visit family, if you can afford it plan your trip during school holidays to spend time together.

SA PUBLIC school holidays 2022

1 January: New Year’s Day
21 March: Human Rights Day
15 April: Good Friday
18 April: Family Day
27 April: Freedom Day
1 May: Workers’ Day
2 May: Public holiday (Workers’ Day observed)
16 June: Youth Day
17 June: School Holiday
8 August: School Holiday
9 August: National Women’s Day
24 September: Heritage Day
16 December: Day of Reconciliation
25 December: Christmas Day
26 December: Day of Goodwill
27 December: Public holiday

The information on this page has been compiled to the best of our abilities. Please note that the publishers of this website, SchoolGuide and any of its employees, do not take any responsibility for any errors that may occur in the above data.