Inset days explained: what they are, when they happen, and how to plan childcare
Published 2026-08-08 · by the Fred team
An inset day is a school day when the teachers are in but the children aren't — and for working parents, five of them a year land like small childcare grenades. Here's what they are, how to find yours, and how to stop them being a surprise.
TL;DR: Inset days are teacher-training days — schools in England and Wales have five per year. Each school chooses its own, so neighbouring schools rarely match. They're published on your school's term-dates page. Put all five in the family calendar the day they're announced, and line up childcare for each one immediately.
What does "inset" actually mean?
INSET stands for IN-SErvice Training. They were introduced in England and Wales in 1988 — originally nicknamed "Baker days" after Kenneth Baker, the education secretary who created them — and give schools five days a year for staff training: curriculum changes, safeguarding updates, new systems. School is closed to pupils, but the days still count inside the school year, which is why they're not just bolted onto the holidays.
When are they?
There is no national inset-day calendar — each school (or academy trust) picks its own five. Common patterns: the first day of the autumn term (that's why some schools "go back" a day later than the council's term dates suggest), the Friday before or Monday after half term, and the first day after Christmas or Easter breaks. But none of that is guaranteed, and siblings at different schools can easily have different inset days — the double-whammy week where each child is off on a different day is a rite of passage.
How to find yours
- School website → usually under "Parents" or "Key information" → Term dates. Inset days are listed there, sometimes marked "school closed to pupils".
- If the page only shows the local authority's generic dates, the school's own newsletter or welcome pack is the source of truth — trusts and academies set their own.
- Some schools announce inset days in stages through the year. Treat every newsletter mention as a calendar event, immediately.
The childcare playbook
- Holiday clubs and sports camps often run on inset days — but only if enough parents book, so book early.
- Wraparound providers (your usual breakfast/after-school club) sometimes offer a full-day inset service. Ask at the start of term, not the week before.
- The parent swap: two families, alternating cover, is the cheapest option and the reason to know the other school's inset days too.
- Annual leave arithmetic: five inset days + thirteen weeks of school holidays is more than most couples' combined leave. The families that cope decide in September which parent covers which dates, rather than negotiating each one the night before.
Frequently asked
How many inset days do schools have per year?
Five, in both England and Wales. Scotland's equivalent (in-service days) is also five; Northern Ireland schools use school development days, which can differ.
Are inset days the same for every school in a town?
No. Each school or trust sets its own, which is why two children at two local schools can have completely different days off.
Do parents get told in advance?
Schools must publish them, and most set the majority before the year starts — but some are announced mid-year. The failure mode isn't the school hiding them; it's the date living in a newsletter nobody put on the calendar.
Never be ambushed again
This is exactly the kind of date that slips: announced once, in an email, months ahead. Fred catches them — forward the school's newsletters to your family's private Fred address and every inset day, half-day and trip date lands on the family calendar with a reminder before you need childcare, not after. Fred lives on WhatsApp, so there's no new app to check.