The summer holidays fall at the same time for all French schoolchildren, for a period of two months.
In France, summer holidays are the longest of the year. They last two months, from July to early September, during the start of the school year. During a trip to Colmar on February 2, 2025, Emmanuel Macron also relaunched the debate around the duration of school holidays, saying that he could shorten them.
“”The question that we can ask for our children is whether we should not review the holidays to be able to relax (sic.) The weeks, to learn better, “said the head of state.” France has a longer vacation than in many countries. There are many countries that only go on vacation from July 14. We have a holiday that is very very long in summer. Children who are not very accompanied by their families will often lose school level. This is something we are going to open, but it must be a little discussed“, He added. But for the SNES-FSU, the main teaching union, the subject of school holidays is not the priority, believing that means must be devoted to recruitment, the salaries of the teachers and the improvement of working conditions.
In France this year, schoolchildren will be on vacation from Saturday July 5, 2025, for all academic areas. They will therefore resume courses on Monday, September 1, 2025, date of the start of the school year for the year 2025-2026. Students therefore have 8 weeks of long holidays, a duration which remains less than the European average which is 9.2 weeks. By way of comparison, the Italians have 13 weeks of summer vacation, and 10.2 weeks in Portugal.
