School holiday dates for 2018/19 revealed

Pupils may not want to be reminded about heading back to school after the grandes vacances, and they may not be too impressed to read that the Ministry of Education has published details of the 2018/19 school calendar.

The school year will run from Monday, September 3, 2018, to Friday, July 5, 2019.

The Toussaint and Christmas holidays will be the same across the three school calendar zones. Schools break up for Toussaint on Friday, October 19, 2018, and return on Monday, November 5. The Christmas holidays will run from Saturday, December 22, 2018, until Monday, January 7, 2019.

As usual, the 2019 winter and spring (Easter) holidays will be different across three geographical zones.

In Zone A - which includes all schools in Besançon, Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Dijon, Grenoble, Limoges, Lyon, and Poitiers - the winter holidays begin at the end of the school day on Friday, February 15, 2019. Pupils will return on Monday, March 4. The Easter break runs from the end of classes on Friday, April 12 until Monday, April 29.

In Zone B - which includes all schools in Aix-Marseille, Amiens, Caen, Lille, Nancy-Metz, Nantes, Nice, Orléans-Tours, Reims, Rennes, Rouen, and Strasbourg - the winter holidays begin at the end of the school day on Friday, February 9, 2019. Pupils will return on Monday, February 25. The Easter break runs from the end of classes on Friday, April 6, until Monday, April 23.

In Zone C - which includes all schools in Créteil, Montpellier, Paris, Toulouse, and Versailles - the winter holidays begin at the end of the school day on Friday, February 23, 2019. Pupils will return on Monday, March 11. The Easter break runs from the end of classes on Friday, April 20, until Monday, May 6.

Children attending schools and colleges in Zone B will be the first to enjoy their winter and spring vacations. On the down side, that means they will be at school a full 11 weeks from their return after Easter until the start of the long summer holidays.

There is one final piece of good news for some pupils. Until now, decisions regarding the Ascension holiday 'bridge' day has been left to local authorities. From the 2018/19 school year, all pupils will be granted the extra day's holiday, meaning they will enjoy a four-day weekend at the end of May that year.

Confirm which school holiday zone you live in by clicking on this image from the French Ministry of Education - then click on the Rechercher button next to the map of France and hover over your region.