Leicestershire education officials have settled on their school terms format for the next five years after asking parents for their opinions.

Following a public consultation into whether parents wanted schools in the city and wider county to keep their traditional term patterns, Leicestershire County Council voted to keep term times the same for the next five years.

The county has significant differences in their school year to other schools around the country, especially when it comes to the summer holidays.

Through the consultation, parents voted overwhelmingly in favour of keeping the so-called 'July fortnight' – the first two weeks of Leicester and Leicestershire pupils' holidays.

Schools in other parts of the country typically do not break up until the beginning of August.

Parents often prefer this arrangement as it allows them to take their family on holiday outside of the traditional summer holiday period.

As such, they can find cheaper holidays that are less busy.

However, the current term pattern also means a longer October terms for school children as the gap between the end of the summer and the Christmas holidays is longer.

Some worry this might lead to burn-out and exhaustion for some children.

There are currently slight differences between the terms times in the county and the city.

This year, schools in the county return to teaching slightly earlier than those in the city after the Christmas break – Friday, December 31 as opposed to Wednesday, January 5.

However, the county council has advised schools to use New Year's Eve as an inset day, so pupils would return on Tuesday, January 4 instead.

Schools in the city also stop teaching for the summer two days earlier than county schools.

It is expected that there will continue to be slight difference between the city and the county's school terms next year as well.

Leicestershire County Council has not yet published the dates for the 2022/23 academic year.

Meanwhile, Leicester City Council has published theirs on their website along with the proposed term dates until the end end of the 2026/27 academic year.

Next year, the term one will run between Tuesday, August 30 and Friday, December 16. October half-term will be Monday, October 17 to Friday, October 21.

Pupils will return after Christmas on Tuesday, January 3 and break up for Easter on Friday, March 31. The February half-term will be Monday, February 20 to Friday, February 24.

The summer term will run from Monday, April 17 to Thursday, July 13. The summer half-term will run from Monday, May 29 to Friday, June 2.