Summer vacation or summer break is a school break in summer between school years and the break in the school academic year. Students are typically off between eight and nine weeks, but not staff, depending on the country and district. In the United States, summer break is approximately two and a half months, with students typically finishing the school year between late-May and late-June and starting the new year between early-August and early-September. In Spain, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Greece, Georgia, Lithuania, Latvia, Lebanon, Romania and Russia, the summer break is normally three months, compared to three to six weeks (sometimes 2 months) in Australia, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Denmark, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Germany.

Criticisms and support Edit
The research around the impact of summer vacation is mixed.[1] “Summer learning loss” (or “summer slide”)[2] is the perceived loss of learning students experience due to interrupted education, but the exact consequences of extended breaks is unclear. Advocates of breaks tend to focus on the need to give children time away from the childhood stresses sometimes associated with school including peer pressure, cliques, bullying, and the pressure of heavy loads of homework.

By country Edit
Argentina Edit
In Argentina, the school year ends in early- or mid-December and starts late February or early March. Also the majority of students get two weeks of holidays during winter, which varies depending on the region of the country from late July or mid-July to early August.

Primary education: From mid-December to late February (2 months)
Secondary education: From early December to early March (3 months)
University education: From last day of December (31 December) to early April
Australia Edit
In Australia, summer officially lasts from 1 December to 28 February, and therefore includes traditional holidays such as Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year. The dates of Australian school holidays are determined by each state's education department. The Christmas summer holidays are the longest in duration. Typically summer holiday in Australia last approximately six weeks, usually from late December (depending on school level) to late January. This is significantly shorter than North American summer holiday, but Australian schools also break for 2 weeks in April and in June and September, giving students and teachers a total of twelve weeks of annual holidays. In many public schools, years 10, 11 and 12 will finish before December 15, allowing time to complete exam marking and results. Year 10 commonly finishes at the end of November, Year 11 at the end of October, and year 12 (Senior Year) also at mid or the end of October after 3 weeks of end-of-year exams. This can bring the normal 12 weeks of vacation to 20 weeks of vacation.

The intervening periods of school operation without holidays are called "school terms", each term lasting approximately ten weeks. All Australian states have relatively similar holiday periods between each term, but there is the ability for this to change, as it did in the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games, when the first term in Victorian schools was shortened to six weeks and the other subsequently extended to 12 weeks due to severe disruptions to the public and private bus networks used by school students. Most private schools in Australia have up to four weeks of additional holidays, due to their longer teaching hours during term.

Austria Edit
In Austria, summer vacation dates vary by region, however the break lasts nine weeks throughout the whole country. School usually ends in early July and starts in early September.

Bangladesh Edit
In Bangladesh, summer vacation begins in mid-May and ends in mid-June (4 weeks). Also, in many schools, the holiday during the month of Ramadan (Around mid-May to around mid-April) is passed off as a summer vacation. The summer there is associated with the availability of fruits such as mangoes (আম / aam) and jackfruits (কাঠাল / kaathaal). So, the summer vacation is sometimes known in Bangladesh as "আম-কাঠালের ছুটি", (pronounced as aam-kaathaaler chhuti), which roughly translates to "mango-jackfruit's holiday". Also, the summer vacation is sometimes not in line with the actual weather patterns during summer, resulting in students having to reach school in the heat. The summer vacations are not given much importance in places except schools.

Barbados Edit
In Barbados, summer holiday dates have varied throughout the years due to the beginning of the hurricane season on June 1. Because of this, major storms affecting the island can cause schools to remain closed for days resulting in a pushback of vacation dates, for example with Hurricane Tomas in 2010. Currently, summer holiday begins in late June or early July and ends in the second week of September.

Belgium Edit
In Belgium, summer vacation lasts in general from July 1 until September 1 (2 months).

Bolivia Edit
In Bolivia, summer vacation runs from early December to early February[3] (2 months).

Bosnia and Herzegovina Edit
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the start of summer break varies by school, but usually starts at the beginning or mid-June. School starts on the first Monday of September.

Brazil Edit
In Brazil, summer holidays vary by region, state and school administration.

The education system in Brazil is federalised, with Federal, State and Municipal schools, all of which can establish their own calendars, alongside that, every federal entity may maintain schools on any of the educational levels, meaning that even in the same town a Municipal-maintained High School, a State-maintained High School, and a privately owned High School have differing calendars, resulting in summer holidays not being simultaneous throughout the country or even town.

The Federal Education Law (Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional) determines that both Primary and Secondary Education shall consist of a minimum of 800 hours a year, distributed between a minimum of 200 school days, allowing schools to plan for school years that extend beyond the mandatory minimum.

In terms of dates, summer holidays might last between 45 and 60 days; from late November — early December, to late January — early February.

In addition, for the majority of Brazilian students there are two to four weeks off for winter in July; the winter holidays were held in August for 2016 only due to the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Bulgaria Edit
In Bulgaria, the time of the break differs according to the grade of the students. The following periods are applied:

1st-3rd grade: May 31 – September 15

4th-6th grade: June 15 – September 15

7th-11th grade: June 30 – September 15

12th grade: School year ends in mid-May.

Note that 8th grade classes that focus on intensive language learning's summer vacation also starts on 30 June, rather than the 15th.[4]

Canada Edit
In Canada, the first day of summer vacation for public schools is the last Saturday in June. However, in some provinces students get a Professional Activity day on the final Friday of that school week, and their last day would be on the Thursday. Depending on the province, students can get 2–3 months of summer vacation. This may vary in Quebec (earlier due to provincial June 24 holiday). The last day of summer vacation is Labour Day. This can vary in Private schools. School generally resumes the day after Labour Day (in September).

Chile Edit
In Chile, summer vacation lasts from early or mid-December until late February or early March (11 or 12 weeks).

China Edit
In the People's Republic of China, summer holidays start in early July and often end in early September (2 months).

Colombia Edit
In Colombia, summer vacation varies. Because of Colombia's equatorial climate (see Climate of Colombia), schools run two different calendars. Public schools and some private schools run "Calendar A" which has a break between June and July. Only some private schools run "Calendar B" in which there is a long vacation in July and August.

Costa Rica Edit
In Costa Rica, summer vacation lasts 2 months. Usually begin in late December and end in early February. There are a few schools using the "American" style, those school usually take vacations in late May and then resume again in early August.

Croatia Edit
In Croatia, the school year finishes around 20 June and it usually starts on the first Monday of September, but if the first Monday is on 1st or 2 September, the school year will start on the second Monday.

Czech Republic Edit
In the Czech Republic, summer holiday begins on July 1 and ends on August 31 (2 months).[5]

Denmark Edit
In Denmark, summer break lasts from the end of June to early or mid-August (6 weeks). High schools (colleges) usually return to school in early August, but for younger students it can be in the middle.

Ecuador Edit
In Ecuador, summer vacation varies. Because of Ecuador's equatorial climate (see Climate of Ecuador for more information), schools run two different calendars. The coastal region runs vacation January or February, but in the Sierra region, summer vacation follows the pattern in July and August.

Egypt Edit
In Egypt, summer break lasts from the beginning or the middle of June until the middle of September (3 months / 14 weeks) in public schools, though length slightly differs according to age. In most private schools, summer break lasts from the middle or end of June to the beginning of September (2.5 months / 10 weeks)

Estonia Edit
In Estonia, summer holidays start in the beginning of June, the date ranging for different grades. School begins every year on September 1.

Ethiopia Edit
In Ethiopia, the school year usually ends in late May to mid-June and begins in mid-September (8 to 12 weeks).

Finland Edit
In Finland, summer vacation starts on Saturday (in week 22) in late May or in the beginning of June. The vacation lasts for 2 to 21⁄2 months. Usually, school starts again on a date between August 7 to 18.

France Edit
In France, summer vacation usually consists of July and August (2 months), though secondary school students finish in mid-June due to the senior's exams. This may vary for private schools.

Germany Edit
In Germany, summer vacation lasts six to six and a half weeks. The exact dates vary by state as well as from one to the next year, from the earliest (mid-June to late July) to the latest (late July to early September). In Germany, the annual holidays are split into winter holidays (about one week), Easter holidays (mostly about two weeks), summer holiday (about six and a half weeks), autumn holidays (about one to two weeks) and Christmas holidays (about one to two weeks). Some states like Bavaria also have holidays for Pentecost.

Greece Edit
In Greece, the summer vacation lasts for 3 months. Schools close on June 15 and reopen on September 11. Universities generally close in mid-July, but with great differences between faculties.

Guatemala Edit
In Guatemala, the summer holidays start in middle October and end in early January (approx 12 weeks).

Guyana Edit
In Guyana, the summer holidays start in early July and end in early September (2 months).

Hungary Edit
In Hungary, summer vacation usually lasts from mid-June (15th) to early September (the first workday). This is about 11 or 12 weeks.

Hong Kong Edit
In Hong Kong, summer vacation normally begins in mid-July and ends on late August (6–7 weeks) for most public schools. However, the starting and ending times of international schools are variable. For example, most ESF-based schools start in late June and finish mid-August (7 weeks).

Iceland Edit
In Iceland, the duration of the summer vacation can vary from one school to another. Typically students start their summer vacation during the first week of June and return to school in the fourth week of August.[6]

India Edit
India covers a wide spectrum of climates, resulting in a large variation in the start times and duration of summer vacation in different regions of the country.

In northern India, summer vacation typically begins in mid-May and ends by early July. The exceptions are the Himalayan Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh, where the summer break is short, and the winter break is much longer. For example, in Jammu & Kashmir, summer vacation is only for ten days, with a long winter break from mid-December to the end of February instead.

In central India, summer vacation begins in mid-April, and schools re-open in mid-June.

In the south, schools finish in the last week of March and resume in early June.

In the north-eastern states, a new school year commences before the holidays, in April. A few weeks later, schools finish for summer vacation between May and June, during the hottest months of the year.

Moreover, summer vacation lasts for no more than six weeks in most schools. The duration may decrease to as little as three weeks for older students.

Iran Edit
In Iran, summer vacation lasts three months. Schools close in mid June and reopen in late September. However, most private high schools make it mandatory for students to attend school for around 2 months during summer. This means students end up having a 2-week break after finals, and another 2-week break before school starts again in late September.

Iraq Edit
In Iraq, summer vacation begins in late May and ends in late September, but the 12th-grade vacation begins in late June and ends in mid-October, and 9th grade starts from mid-June to September.

Ireland Edit
In the Republic of Ireland, most secondary schools start summer holidays at the end of May or the start of June. However, Junior and Leaving Certificate exams will take place during June. Schools will usually open again at the end of August to the start of September. Primary schools in the Republic of Ireland are sixteen days longer, so they start their summer holiday at the end of June but do not return until the first week of September.[7] Private schools follow the same pattern.

Israel Edit
Summer vacation for middle school and high school students starts on June 21 and ends on August 31 (two months and 10 days). Summer vacation for primary school students starts on July 1 and ends on August 31 (two months).

Italy Edit
In Italy, summer vacation for elementary, middle and high schools normally starts the second week of June and lasts until the second week of September included, for a total of about three months. For kindergartens, summer vacation starts at the end of June and lasts until the first week of September. Final term examinations for middle school and high school are held until the end of June or the first days of July. In Italy summer vacations do not involve only schools but also shops and companies, most of which are closed in the two-week period over August 15 (Ferragosto).

Jamaica Edit
In Jamaica, summer holidays for primary and secondary schools starts in the first week of July and ends in the first week of September which gives a duration of about eight weeks. Tertiary institutions using the semester system typically have summer holidays starting in May (at the end of examinations) and ending in early September. This can, however, vary among institutions.

Japan Edit
In Japan, the summer vacation generally lasts from late July to early September, and due to the way education in Japan is structured, it takes place within a school year.

Jordan Edit
In Jordan, summer vacation lasts almost 3 months, and most schools take summer vacation from mid-June to mid-September.

Kuwait Edit
In Kuwait, summer vacation for elementary and middle schools [1st to 9th grade] starts at the end of May or at the beginning of June and ends at the beginning to late September, sometimes as far as early October (public schools). For high school students [10th to 12th grade], it starts on June 19–20 and ends at the same time as elementary and middle schools.

Latvia Edit
In Latvia, summer vacation lasts 3 months. Starting on 1 June and ending on 31 August, with the new school year starting the next day.

Lebanon Edit
In Lebanon, summer vacation lasts almost 3 months and most schools take summer vacation from mid-June to early-to-mid September.

Libya Edit
In Libya, summer break lasts from the beginning or the middle of June until the middle of September (3 Months – 14 Weeks). There are 5 other smaller vacations: Mid-year two-week break around February and two Hijri lunar calendar 3-day religious breaks for Eid Fitr (15 June in 2018) and Eid Adha (22 Aug in 2018).

Lithuania Edit
In Lithuania, summer vacation starts in 15th learning day of June (ex. June 21) and ends on September 1 with the start of a new school year (2.5 months).

Luxembourg Edit
In Luxembourg, summer vacation starts on July 16 and ends on September 15, lasting a total of two months. There are 5 other smaller vacations: All Saints' Day (1 week), Christmas (2 weeks), Carnival (1 week), Easter (2 weeks), Pentecost (1 week). (See also holidays in Luxembourg)

North Macedonia Edit
In North Macedonia, the summer vacation starts on June 10 and ends on September 1 in every school. They also get Christmas vacations from 31 December until 21 January, and 1 week break for Easter.

Malta Edit
In Malta, the summer holidays usually last from the end of June until the end of September (3 months).

Moldova Edit
In Moldova, summer vacation begins on 1 June and ends on 1 September (3 months).

Morocco Edit
In Morocco, summer vacation lasts from June 20 until the beginning of September (2 months).

Mexico Edit
In Mexico, summer vacation starts in early July and finishes in mid-August since 2000. However, high school students (10th–12th grades) and college students have mostly three months of vacation: from late May or early June to early August.

Mongolia Edit
In Mongolia, summer vacation usually starts from late May or early June (varies between schools) to the end of August. The school year is divided into 4 terms (lasting 8 to 9 weeks each), and students take 1 week off after the first and second terms, and 2 weeks after the third term.

Nepal Edit
In Nepal, summer vacation runs from the end of May to the end of July.

Netherlands Edit
In the Netherlands, summer vacation is about 6 weeks for primary school and high school, usually from mid-July to late August. School students officially get the same time off but there often is a one-week period before the vacation during which the student will only have to go to school for 2 days to receive their grade lists and bring back their books, making the holiday 7 weeks unofficially for high school students. However, this does not apply to every school.

New Zealand Edit
In New Zealand, the school holidays (the term used, rather than "vacation") typically start in mid-December, and end in late January or early February, which is usually 6–7 weeks.[8] Senior secondary school students in Years 11, 12 and 13 finish in late-October for study leave, and their summer holidays begin after their last exam, which is different depending on the subjects they take. All exams are over by late November or early December. University or polytech students do not start until mid-February or early March and finish in late-October or mid-November.

Nigeria Edit
In Nigeria, primary and secondary Schools usually start summer vacation in mid-July and resume in the early weeks of September. The vacation is also known as the "3rd-term holiday", and it is the longest break in a school year (typically up to two months). The "first-term break" starts between one and two weeks prior to Christmas and ends the first or second week in January, lasting for about three weeks. The "first-term break" is usually the shortest break in a school year.