For nearly two centuries, the French school calendar has oscillated between agricultural, religious, pedagogical and economic logics. In the 19th century, holidays, limited to six weeks, followed the harvest and the Catholic calendar, before extending to twelve weeks for high school students in 1912. In the interwar period, in 1938 Jean Zay standardized holidays and introduced Christmas and Mardi Gras breaks, while summer camps highlighted the social importance of this downtime. After 1959, the summer holiday stretched from July to mid-September, then zoning was introduced along with winter holidays in the 1970s. The reforms of the 1980s and 1990s established a rhythm of "seven weeks of classes, two weeks off", but the debate keeps resurfacing, from Chirac in 1995 to Macron in 2025, proof that the quarrel over school vacations - too long or poorly distributed - remains in constant debate.
The French calendar imposes a total of 16 weeks of school holidays, including about 8 weeks in summer, with a balanced rhythm between classes and breaks. The number of annual class days is relatively low (about 162 days) but the days are long compared to other educational systems such as Germany.
France, with its regular rhythm, represents an intermediate model between long summer breaks and numerous divisions.
The length of summer holidays is regularly questioned: in 2023, Emmanuel Macron expressed his wish to "reopen the debate on school time during the year", considering summer holidays too long and potentially a source of inequality or learning loss. Others nuance this view, notably from the teachers' unions. The steering committee of the National Conference on School Rhythms, which submitted its report to the Minister of Education on 4 July 2011, stresses that it is mainly necessary to compare actual teaching time and not only holidays.
France is therefore among the most generous European countries in terms of school holidays, with 16 weeks of annual leave. But, contrary to the clichés, its 8 weeks summer break is relatively short compared to the 11 to 13 weeks typical in several southern and eastern European countries.
In light of these elements, one can therefore question the recurrence of this debate, without major changes being made. The answer lies in political considerations, negotiations with the tourism sector and other more opaque factors. However, this time a new actor may play a role: Citizens' convention of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (EESC) dedicated to children’s time launched in June 2025 at the initiative of the President of the Republic. This assembly brings together 140 randomly selected citizens, designed to reflect the diversity of French society, alongside a panel of 20 children and teenagers. Their mission is to rethink the organization of children’s time, especially during the long summer break. Yet the composition of this panel raises questions: while children are at the heart of the issue, they remain a minority in the discussions. Ultimately, aren’t holidays designed more for adults and workers, while children endure extremely long school days that serve to justify this division of breaks?
In the end, what truly matters is not the length of holidays but how they are built, with children themselves as the main stakeholders. Listening to every age group, from elementary pupils to high school students, is essential to create a rhythm adapted to everyone, especially to those whose voices are least heard.
(1) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/24/macron-debate-wants-shorten-french-school-holidays
By Eléanor Merle and Lucie Petit
To go further on our file dedicated to back to school, you can read our society and IR sections’ articles on our blog.
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