French school holiday dates for 2020/21 unveiled

Children across France may be gearing up for the 2019/20 rentrée in September, but the government has unveiled its calendar for the following school year.

Holidays in French schools are split in to three zones – A, B and C – with holiday dates spread for the winter and spring holidays, while others such as Toussaint, Christmas and summer holidays, are taken at the same time.

The zones cover different education authorities to spread out traffic movements and holiday crowding. They are as follows:

Zone A – Besançon, Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Dijon, Grenoble, Limoges, Lyon, Poitiers

Zone B – Aix-Marseille, Amiens, Caen, Lille, Nancy-Metz, Nantes, Nice, Orléans-Tours, Reims, Rennes, Rouen, Strasbourg

Zone C – Créteil, Montpellier, Paris, Toulouse, Versailles

Holiday dates for the 2020/21 school calendar are:

After breaking up for the summer at the end of the upcoming school year on July 4, 2020, those pupils heading back to school for the 2020/21 year will return after the holidays on Tuesday, September 1, 2020. Teachers will return on Monday, August 31 to prepare for classes.

Toussaint (for all zones):

Break-up: Saturday October 17, 2020 (after classes, if pupils are in school on Saturdays; otherwise holidays begin at the end of the school day Friday, October 16) | Return: Monday, November 2

Christmas (for all zones):

Break-up: Saturday, December 19, 2020 | Return: Monday, January 4, 2021

Winter holidays

(Zone A) Break-up: Saturday, February 6, 2021 | Return: Monday, February 22

(Zone C) Break-up: Saturday, February 13, 2021 | Return: Monday, March 1

(Zone B) Break-up: Saturday, February 20, 2021 | Return: Monday, March 8

Spring (Easter) holidays

(Zone A) Break-up: Saturday, April 10, 2021 | Return: Monday, April 26

(Zone C) Break-up: Saturday, April 17, 2021 | Return: Monday, May 3

(Zone B) Break-up: Saturday, April 24, 2021 | Return: Monday, May 10

Summer holidays

All schools break up at the end of classes on Tuesday, July 6, 2021.

Different holiday dates are planned for schools in Corsica, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique and Reunion Island, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon.