Westminster's October half term is 26 to 30 October 2026, and two weeks at some secondaries. Free swimming, National Gallery workshops and The Big Draw.

October half term in Westminster runs from Monday 26 October to Friday 30 October 2026. That is the council’s calendar for community schools. Children go back on Monday 2 November. At least two Westminster secondaries break for a fortnight instead. Below are the confirmed dates, then the free and low-cost things on in the borough that week, taken from each organiser’s own listings.

The quick answer

  • Half term is Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026 on Westminster’s calendar.
  • Pimlico Academy breaks until Friday 6 November, and Westminster City School’s students return on Thursday 5 November. Check your school.
  • Westminster children, and one adult per child, can swim free at council pools on weekdays from 10am to 4pm during school holidays, if they book with an ActiveWestminster card.

The dates

The council’s 2026/27 term dates set the autumn half term for community and voluntary-controlled schools. Academies and independent schools set their own, and in Westminster the differences are big.

School Last day before the break Break Back
Westminster council calendar Friday 23 October Monday 26 to Friday 30 October Monday 2 November
Pimlico Academy Thursday 22 October (Friday 23 is a staff INSET day) Monday 26 October to Friday 6 November Monday 9 November
Westminster City School Friday 23 October Monday 26 October to Wednesday 4 November Thursday 5 November

The full year, including Christmas and INSET days, is on our school term dates page. If you have children at two schools, check both calendars: you may have a week where one child is at school and the other is not.

Free swimming at council pools

This is the offer most Westminster families can use every day of the week. Under the council’s ActiveWestminster swim offer, children and young people under 19 who live in Westminster swim free all year. During school holidays one accompanying adult per child also swims free, Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm. The rules:

  • Pools: Marshall Street, Moberly, Porchester Centre and Queen Mother Sports Centre.
  • You must register for an ActiveWestminster card in advance, at a leisure centre reception with ID and proof of address.
  • Every session must be booked ahead. Collect wristbands at reception.
  • Children under eight need an adult over 18 in the water, with no more than two children per adult.

The council first opened the free adult place to parents in October 2025. Session times vary by centre.

What’s on, day by day

All of these come from the organisers’ own pages, checked on 25 September.

When What Where Cost
Sat 24 Oct to Sun 1 Nov, all day Along the Piccadilly line: storytelling for under-5s, crafts and family activities for the line’s 120th anniversary London Transport Museum, Covent Garden Free with museum admission; children go free
Tue 27, Wed 28, Thu 29 Oct, 11am to 1pm and 2pm to 4pm Playing with Colour: watercolour workshop inspired by Renoir; make an umbrella to take home National Gallery, Roden Centre (enter from Orange Street) Free, first come first served
Tue 27 and Thu 29 Oct, 11.30am and 1.30pm Stories in the Gallery: A walk with Renoir, a family story walk National Gallery Free; collect a wristband on the day
Wed 28 Oct, 8.30am to 10am Early Explorer morning for families of children with SEND, before the public is let in London Transport Museum Free for a child and one adult; extra adults £18.50; booking essential
Thu 29 Oct, 10.30am to 12.30pm Creative Clay Workshop with artist Miranda Lopatkin, ages 5+ Wallace Collection, Manchester Square First come, first served on the day
Sat 31 Oct, 9am to 11.30am The Big Draw: Relaxed Family Morning for neurodivergent children Wallace Collection Free; book via families@wallacecollection.org
Sat 31 Oct, 11am to 4pm The Big Draw: Drawn Together, a giant collaborative drawing, ages 5+ Wallace Collection, Great Gallery Free, first come first served
Sat 31 Oct, 1.30pm to 4pm Hands on Armour: Paint your Power: try on real and replica armour, ages 5+ Wallace Collection First come, first served on the day
Until Sun 1 Nov Frieze Sculpture: outdoor works by 11 international artists English Gardens, Regent’s Park Free
Until Sun 29 Nov Winston Churchill: The Painter, more than 50 of his paintings Wallace Collection Paid exhibition; members free

Sources: London Transport Museum half-term page and Early Explorer page; National Gallery Playing with Colour and Stories in the Gallery; the Wallace Collection’s family events and Churchill exhibition; the Royal Parks’ Frieze Sculpture listing.

A few notes from the small print. The National Gallery’s workshop is for adults and children together, so lone adults are turned away. The Wallace Collection keeps its Learning Studio open for packed lunches until 1.30pm on workshop days. The National Gallery’s Welcome Space for families is open on weekends, bank holidays and Westminster school holidays, and it is free.

For grown-ups on the Saturday

London Transport Museum’s Iconic silent disco: Halloween special runs on the evening of Saturday 31 October, in two sessions, 6.30pm to 9pm and 9.30pm to midnight. It is for over-18s only, with early bird tickets at £25, according to the museum.

The week after

If your child’s school has a second week off, Bonfire Night falls in it. See our fireworks page for the only display in the borough. Hyde Park Winter Wonderland opens later, on 19 November: details on our Winter Wonderland page.

Still to be confirmed

  • Swimming session times at each leisure centre for half-term week.
  • Westminster libraries’ half-term activities. The council’s events calendar only shows its listings in a browser, so we could not read them.

We will add confirmed events as organisers publish them.