School holidays in Sweden 2026/2027: dates for Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö

In the school year 2026/2027 all three cities have their autumn break (höstlov) in week 44, 26–30 October 2026. The winter sports break (sportlov) in 2027 falls in week 9 in Stockholm, week 7 in Gothenburg and week 8 in Malmö. The Easter break (påsklov) is week 13 in Stockholm and Gothenburg but week 12 in Malmö. The dates apply to municipal compulsory schools and come from the cities' own term-date pages, checked on 6 October 2026.

School holidays 2026/2027 in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö

The table shows the breaks in municipal compulsory schools (grundskola) in 2026/2027, according to the City of Stockholm, the City of Gothenburg and the City of Malmö. The autumn term started on 17 August 2026 according to all three municipalities.

Good to know about the table

• Gothenburg and Malmö call the autumn break läslov (reading break). It is the same break.
• Gothenburg's page lists läslov as 27–30 October. On Monday 26 October both schools and after-school centres are closed, so pupils are off the whole week.
• Gothenburg counts Good Friday, 26 March, and Easter Monday, 29 March, as part of the Easter break. Stockholm lists only the free weekdays after the Easter weekend.
• Malmö has its Easter break in the week before Easter. Easter Monday, 29 March, is a public holiday, so school starts again on Tuesday 30 March.

Christmas and summer holidays

The cities do not list jullov (Christmas break) and sommarlov (summer holiday) as separate lines. The Christmas break runs from the last day of the autumn term to the first day of the spring term. In Stockholm and Gothenburg the autumn term ends on Friday 18 December 2026, in Malmö on Tuesday 22 December. The spring term starts on Monday 11 January 2027 in all three cities.

The last day of the school year is Friday 11 June 2027 in Stockholm and Malmö and Thursday 10 June in Gothenburg. The summer holiday starts the day after. The autumn term 2027 starts on 17 August in Stockholm and on 16 August in Gothenburg. Malmö has not yet published 2027/2028 on its page.

Sportlov and påsklov 2026: the dates that have passed

Sportlov 2026 and påsklov 2026 belong to the previous school year, 2025/2026, and are already over. Here are the dates if you need them afterwards.

Stockholm's dates are still on the city's page. Gothenburg's term-date page now starts with the autumn term 2026, so its 2026 dates come from the school administration's June 2024 paper on term dates for 2025/2026, which counts Good Friday, 3 April, and Easter Monday, 6 April, as part of the break. Malmö shows only 2026/2027, so we give no 2026 dates for Malmö.

How Swedish week numbers work: vecka 9, vecka 44

Swedes often give school breaks and annual leave as week numbers instead of dates. Say that sportlov is vecka 9 (week 9) and everyone knows which week you mean. Weeks are numbered by the international standard ISO 8601.

• The week starts on Monday and ends on Sunday.
• Week 1 is the week that contains the first Thursday of the year. 4 January is always in week 1.
• A year has 52 or 53 weeks. 2026 has 53 weeks, so the Christmas break 2026/2027 runs across week 52, week 53 and week 1.
• Vecka is shortened to v. A school calendar may say v. 44 or v 44.

The same week number gives different dates in different years. Week 9 was 23–27 February in 2026 but is 1–5 March in 2027, so always check the dates for the right year. Most Swedish diaries print the week number, and most phone calendars show it once you switch it on in the settings.

Why the breaks fall in different weeks

The body responsible for a school decides when its terms start and end. For municipal schools that is the municipality. The City of Stockholm states that a school year covers 40 weeks with at least 178 school days and at least 12 days of holiday. Within those limits each municipality places its own breaks.

Sportlov: week 7, 8 or 9

Sportlov is a one-week break in February or March. Gothenburg has it in week 7, in both 2027 and 2028 according to the City of Gothenburg. Malmö has week 8 in 2027. Stockholm has week 9, in both 2026 and 2027. So families in the three cities are off in different weeks, which is worth knowing if you plan to travel or visit relatives in another city.

Påsklov: before or after Easter

Easter moves from year to year, and the Easter break moves with it. In 2027 Easter Sunday is 28 March. Malmö has its break the week before Easter, week 12. Stockholm and Gothenburg have theirs the week after, week 13. In Stockholm the Easter break was in week 15 in 2026 and is in week 13 in 2027, two weeks earlier.

Höstlov: week 44 in all three

The autumn break is in week 44 in all three cities in 2026. Stockholm and Gothenburg have week 44 in 2027 as well: 1–5 November in Stockholm and 2–5 November in Gothenburg, where Monday 1 November is a closing day.

Staff training days and single days off

Besides the breaks, pupils have single days off. On a studiedag (staff training day) pupils have no lessons while the staff train. Malmö states five such days per school year.

Gothenburg notes that the spring training days may change because of national tests, and Malmö that some schools have theirs on another day than 19 May. Ask the school what applies to your child.

After-school care during breaks and training days

In Stockholm, children enrolled in fritidshem (after-school care, often called fritids) are always offered care on training days and during breaks, according to the City of Stockholm. In Gothenburg the centres are open during läslov, sportlov and påsklov but closed on certain days, among them 26 October 2026 and 7 January 2027. In summer weeks 28–31 only a few centres in Gothenburg are open.

Independent schools and upper secondary may differ

The dates here apply to municipal compulsory schools. Independent schools (friskolor) set their own term dates. Both Stockholm and Malmö tell parents with children in such a school to contact the school. Upper secondary schools (gymnasium) have their own term dates, which may differ. The school's own calendar always decides.

• Municipal school: follow the city's term dates and the school's notice about training days.
• Independent school: ask the school or look at the school's website.
• Upper secondary school: look at the school's own page on term dates.

To take your child out of school outside the breaks, ask the school for leave in advance. Children registered as resident in Sweden must attend school from the autumn term of the year they turn six, according to the City of Gothenburg.

What can children do during the breaks?

Start with what is close by. Libraries, swimming pools, museums and sports clubs usually run extra programmes during the breaks, and the cities often list holiday activities on their websites. Look there a week or so before the break.

• Stockholm: our page on Stockholm lists museums, restaurants and other businesses in the city. For a day out in the archipelago, see the guide Waxholmsbolaget: how it works.
• Gothenburg: the page on Gothenburg gives the same overview. Read also about Gothenburg's archipelago boats.
• Malmö: the page on Malmö lists businesses and places to visit.

Many families in the same city are off in the same week. Book trains, accommodation and popular attractions in good time, especially before sportlov and höstlov.

Next school year and how this page is updated

Some dates for 2027/2028 are already set. In Stockholm the autumn term starts on 17 August 2027 and the autumn break is week 44, 1–5 November. In Gothenburg the autumn term starts on 16 August 2027. Sportlov there is week 7, 14–18 February 2028, and påsklov is week 15, 10–13 April 2028.

This page is updated every year when the municipalities publish new term dates.

Sources

• City of Stockholm: Terminer och lov i grundskolan
• City of Gothenburg: Läsårstider
• City of Gothenburg: Läsårstider för elever 2026/2027
• City of Gothenburg: Läsårstider för elever 2025/2026
• City of Gothenburg, school administration: Läsårstider 2025/2026 (official paper, pdf)
• City of Malmö: Läsår och lov i grundskolan

The facts were checked on 6 October 2026.