Documentation

Subscribe to your school’s term dates calendar feed to have school holidays, inset days and other closures added to the calendar you already use.

You only need to subscribe once. When the school changes a date or adds another academic year, your calendar will receive the updated information automatically. Calendar apps decide when to check for updates, so a new subscription or a later change may not appear straight away.

The dates are added as a separate, read-only calendar alongside your own appointments. You can show, hide or unsubscribe from it without affecting anything else in your calendar.

How to subscribe

1. Open the Term dates section in your school’s newsletter.
2. Select Subscribe.
3. Choose the calendar app or service where you normally keep your calendar.
4. Sign in if asked, then confirm the subscription by selecting Subscribe, Add, Import or a similar option.

Choose the service you use rather than the type of phone you have. For example, choose Google Calendar if you use Google Calendar on an iPhone. Choose Apple Calendar if you want the dates added to your Apple or iCloud calendar.

If none of the listed options works with your calendar app, select Copy iCal Address. You can then paste the address into your calendar’s subscription field.

Google Calendar

Select Google Calendar, sign in to the Google Account where you want the dates to appear and confirm that you want to add the calendar.

Google Calendar can be slow to populate or refresh a subscribed calendar. It may take several hours, and sometimes up to a day, for all the dates to appear. Leave the calendar in place and check again later rather than adding it repeatedly, as doing so may create duplicates.

If the Google Calendar button doesn’t work

The button should open Google’s add-calendar page directly, including when you’re using a phone. If that doesn’t work, you can add the feed manually using Google Calendar on a computer:

1. Return to the newsletter and select Copy iCal Address.
2. On a computer, open Google Calendar in a web browser.
3. Next to Other calendars, select the plus button.
4. Select From URL.
5. Paste the copied address and select Add calendar.

Once added, the term dates calendar should appear under Other calendars and become available in the Google Calendar app on devices signed in to the same account.

If the calendar is listed but the dates are hidden, open the Google Calendar menu and make sure the box beside the calendar is selected. You can find more guidance in Google’s help article about subscribing to calendars.

Apple Calendar on iPhone or iPad

Select Apple Calendar and follow the prompt to subscribe. Choose iCloud as the account if you want the calendar to appear on your other Apple devices as well.

If the Apple Calendar button doesn’t work

1. Return to the newsletter and select Copy iCal Address.
2. Open the Calendar app.
3. Select Calendars.
4. Select Add Calendar, then Add Subscription Calendar.
5. Paste the copied address and select Find or Subscribe, depending on your version of iOS.
6. Choose iCloud as the account and complete the subscription.

If the dates aren’t visible afterwards, open the calendar list and make sure the term dates calendar has a tick beside it.

See Apple’s guide to adding calendar subscriptions for more details.

Apple Calendar on a Mac

Select Apple Calendar from the newsletter, or add the feed manually:

1. Select Copy iCal Address in the newsletter.
2. Open Calendar on your Mac.
3. Choose File, then New Calendar Subscription.
4. Paste the copied address and select Subscribe.
5. Choose iCloud as the location if you want the calendar to appear on your other Apple devices.

If an update hasn’t appeared, choose View, then Refresh Calendars. You can also control how often the feed is checked by opening the calendar’s information and changing its Auto-refresh setting.

See Apple’s guide to refreshing subscribed calendars for more information.

Outlook and Microsoft 365

Choose the option that matches the Microsoft account where you keep your calendar:

• Outlook Work or School (M365) for an account provided by your employer, school or another organisation.
• Personal Outlook.com for a personal Outlook.com, Hotmail or Live account.

Sign in to the correct account and follow the instructions to add the calendar.

If the Outlook button doesn’t work

1. Return to the newsletter and select Copy iCal Address.
2. Open Outlook in a web browser and go to Calendar.
3. Select Add calendar.
4. Select Subscribe from web.
5. Paste the copied address.
6. Select Import, Save or Import and save.

Make sure you use Subscribe from web. Although the final button may say Import, following this route creates an updating subscription. Uploading a downloaded .ics file instead creates a one-off copy which won’t receive later changes from the school.

Microsoft says updates to subscribed calendars can occasionally take more than 24 hours to appear. If the calendar has been added successfully, leave it in place and check again later.

Some work or school accounts restrict external calendars. If the option is missing or the subscription is refused, you may need to contact your organisation’s IT team or add the calendar to a personal account instead.

See Microsoft’s guide to importing and subscribing to calendars for more detailed instructions.

Samsung Calendar and other Android calendar apps

Many Android calendar apps can display calendars stored in your Google Account, but don’t provide their own way to subscribe to a calendar feed.

Choose Google Calendar in the newsletter to add the feed to your Google Account. Once it has been added, open your usual calendar app and make sure that account and calendar are visible.

On a Samsung Galaxy device, also make sure Calendar syncing is enabled for your Google Account:

1. Open your phone’s Settings.
2. Select Accounts and backup.
3. Select Manage accounts.
4. Select your Google Account, then Sync account.
5. Make sure Calendar syncing is turned on.

See Samsung’s calendar syncing guide for more help.

Yahoo Calendar

Yahoo Calendar does not support adding a subscription via a link. Please follow the instructions below for using the Copy iCal Address button.

You can find more guidance in Yahoo’s help article about subscribing to calendars.

Using Copy iCal Address with another calendar app

If your calendar app isn’t listed, select Copy iCal Address and look in the app’s settings for an option such as:

• Add subscription calendar
• Subscribe from URL
• From web
• Internet calendar
• Add iCal feed

Paste the complete address into that field and confirm the subscription. If your app only offers to import a downloaded file, check whether you can add the subscription through the website for your Google, Microsoft or Apple account instead.

Common problems

I subscribed, but no dates are showing

Check that you signed in to the account where you normally keep your calendar. Then open your list of calendars and make sure the term dates calendar is selected and visible.

It may also simply need more time. Google Calendar and Outlook can take many hours to populate a new subscription.

The school changed a date, but my calendar hasn’t updated

The update is sent through the calendar feed automatically, but your calendar service decides when to collect it. Google Calendar can take up to a day, while Microsoft warns that Outlook updates can occasionally take longer than 24 hours.

Avoid removing and re-adding the calendar while you wait, as this may leave you with more than one copy.

The dates appear twice

You may have subscribed more than once, or imported a copy of the dates as well as subscribing.

Open your calendar list and remove or unsubscribe from the extra term dates calendar. Remove the duplicate calendar itself rather than deleting every event individually.

The calendar downloaded as a file

Your browser may have downloaded an .ics file instead of opening your calendar app.

Return to the newsletter, select Copy iCal Address and add that address using your calendar’s subscription option. Importing the downloaded file may add the current dates, but it won’t necessarily receive future updates.

The calendar appears on one device but not another

Check that both devices are signed in to the same Google, Microsoft or Apple account and that calendar syncing is enabled.

For Apple Calendar, the subscription needs to be saved to iCloud rather than only to the individual device if you want it to appear everywhere.

I can’t edit one of the dates

Subscribed calendars are read-only because the dates are controlled by the school. Contact the school if you believe one of the dates is incorrect.

I no longer want the dates in my calendar

Open your calendar list, select the term dates calendar and choose Unsubscribe, Remove or Delete calendar. This removes the subscription without affecting your own appointments.