As Term 4 progresses, many are eager to know when the 2024 school year will officially end. The term is set to conclude between 11 and 13 December, depending on the school district.

With these dates in mind, families and educators can begin planning their end-of-year holidays and prepare for the 2025 school year.

Fourth Term:

Term: 4
Duration: 1 Oct – 11 (13) Dec
Number of weeks: 11
Number of days: 52 (54)
Number of public holidays: 0
Actual number of school days: 52 (54)

The fourth term of 2024 will last for 10 weeks and 3 days. During this term, learners will have the opportunity to celebrate the Day of Reconciliation on the 16th of December, the Day of Goodwill on the 26th of December, and New Year’s Day on the 1st of January 2025.

The South African Department of Basic Education recently announced key 2025 changes impacting coastal and inland schools.

To note: The inland provinces are the Free State, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and North West, while the coastal provinces are the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape, and Western Cape.

With a unified start date of 15 January and an entire week designated as special school holidays, these updates aim to streamline the academic year and adapt to public holiday overlaps, providing learners and teachers a unique break.

National Department of Basic Education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said this was done to minimise traffic congestion on roads.

“The aim is to allocate different dates to the two clusters in the first term so that traffic density before the opening of schools for the new school year is kept within acceptable levels,” he said.

He said the department reviews the impact of the policy every year and considers the number of days that will be available in the coming years based on the national calendar.

“The focus is on ensuring that there is no loss in terms of the number of days allocated for schooling,” he added.

Also read: Major changes to 2025 school calendar: New start dates and extra week off

Here are the changes:

• This start date is two days earlier than the 2024 school year, meaning the academic year will consist of 200 school days.
• 2025 is expected to have 27 standard school holidays, an increase from the 25 holidays in 2024.
• Unlike 2024, 2025 is expected to have three ‘special school holidays’.

These holidays will be on the following dates:

• Tuesday, 29 April;
• Wednesday, 30 April; and
• Friday, 2 May 2025.

Here is the proposed school calendar for 2025. 

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