Every summer thousands of Irish primary teachers do an approved summer course to earn EPV days. The rules around them are scattered across circulars going back to 1997, so here they are in one place, in plain English, with the source for each answer.
What is an EPV day?
EPV stands for Extra Personal Vacation. It is a paid day of leave you can take during the school year because you attended and completed a Department approved summer course during the summer holidays.
It comes from Rule 58 of the Rules for National Schools. The Department of Education and Youth, on the recommendation of the Inspectorate, decides which courses carry the entitlement. Your own days off are then approved at school level.
How many EPV days can I get in one summer?
Five, and that is a hard ceiling. Circular 37/97 puts it in capital letters: 5 days EPV is the maximum which may be awarded in any school year.
Getting to five takes three courses. A fourth course earns you nothing extra.
How many EPV days is one summer course worth?
Three. A standard approved summer course is 20 hours and is worth 3 EPV days.
| Courses completed | EPV days |
|---|---|
| One | 3 |
| Two | 4 |
| Three | 5 |
| Four or more | 5 |
The reason it is not 3, 6, 9 is that Circular 37/97 sets the entitlement in bands based on total days of course attendance rather than per course. One course lands in the 5 to 8 day band, which is 3 days. Two courses lands in the 9 to 14 day band, which is 4. Three courses reaches 15 days or more, which is 5.
What does a 20 hour online course actually involve?
For an online course the Department requires 20 hours in total, organised into five modules, made up of at least 10 hours of asynchronous learning and a further 10 hours timetabled for other self directed learning activities.
There are four approved formats and all of them come to 20 hours:
- Online. 20 hours, at least 10 asynchronous plus 10 self directed.
- Face to face. Five consecutive weekdays, minimum four hours a day.
- Blended. 8 hours onsite over two days plus 12 hours online.
- Synchronous pilot. 15 hours synchronous or asynchronous plus 5 hours offline.
All four are worth the same 3 EPV days. A Department notice issued on 26th June 2014 states plainly that the mode of delivery has no bearing on EPV days.
Can I do more than one course in the same summer?
Yes, and the days add up as in the table above. But the courses have to be done one after the other, never at the same time.
The Providers Handbook is explicit: where a participant has registered for more than one course, courses must be completed consecutively rather than concurrently. Your certificates carry both a start date and a completion date, so overlapping dates on two certificates are visible.
When do summer courses have to be done?
Inside a window the Department sets every year. For summer 2026 the programme could start on the first working day of July and everything had to be finished by 5pm on Friday 21st August 2026.
The pattern holds year to year, starting on the first working day of July and finishing on a Friday in the second half of August, but the exact dates are published each year in that year’s Providers Handbook. The 2027 dates have not been published yet.
Individual providers usually run a narrower window inside the Department one. Anokha courses run from 1st July to 22nd July, with bookings closing on 20th July.
When can I take my EPV days?
During the school year, with your principal’s prior approval. Beyond that, this is the area with the least national rule and the most school by school variation, so it is worth being clear about what is a Department rule and what is not.
These are Department rules:
- The days are taken during the school year.
- You need prior approval before taking one.
- The welfare and educational needs of the pupils take precedence.
- No paid substitute cover is provided for EPV leave. Circular 0032/2007 lists it among the absences the Department does not pay cover for.
- The leave is recorded on the Online Claims System.
These are usually school rules, not Department rules: not in the first or last week of term, not on sports day or the school tour or the Christmas concert, only one teacher out at a time. You will see these presented online as if they were national rules. They are not. They come from individual school EPV policies adopted by the Board of Management, and the model policy from the management bodies presents them as options a school should consider.
That no substitute cover point is the practical one. When you are out on an EPV day your class is divided among the other teachers, which is why principals ration the days rather than being awkward about it.
Do I need permission, and who from?
Yes, always in advance. Circular 0035/2009 says the principal may approve the leave once you have presented your certificate. The Department’s own guidance for teachers says to apply in writing to your employer, meaning the Board of Management.
In practice most schools have a written EPV policy adopted by the Board and administered day to day by the principal. Ask for a copy of yours if you have not seen it.
Do unused EPV days carry over to next year?
No. They are for the school year they arise in.
There was a one off exception during Covid, when untaken days from 2020/21 could be carried into 2021/22, still capped at five in total. That exception has ended.
What if I do not finish the course?
You get nothing. For a standard 20 hour course it is all or nothing.
The Providers Handbook states that the full 20 hours must be completed to receive a completion certificate, and that partial attendance at an online, blended or pilot course bears no entitlement to an EPV day award. Circular 37/97 adds that no entitlement arises where attendance at any course amounts to three days or less.
Partial awards do exist, but only for the much longer courses in the 37/97 bands, which almost nobody takes now. For the standard course, finish it or you have nothing to show.
Am I eligible if I am newly qualified, subbing or job sharing?
This is the one question where the honest answer is that it depends on your school, because the circulars do not settle it.
- Newly qualified teachers. Nothing in Circulars 37/97, 0035/2009 or 0032/2007 excludes NQTs. But practice varies, some schools bar it by policy, and you will find providers and teacher forums giving opposite answers. If you are on Droichead, check with your principal before booking anything.
- Job sharing. The management bodies’ model policy says the combined EPV allowance of the two teachers should not be less than the equivalent allowance of a whole time teacher. That is a management body position, not a Department rule.
- Substitute teachers. Generally not, though some Boards allow it for longer covering posts. We could not find an official source either way.
- Part time and temporary teachers. The circulars make no distinction by employment status and set out no pro rata formula. It is decided locally.
If you are in any of these situations, one conversation with your principal before you book is worth more than anything you will read online, including this page.
Do post primary teachers get EPV days?
No. EPV days are for primary teachers only. Rule 58 is a rule for national schools, and the circulars are addressed to Boards of Management and principals of primary schools.
Post primary teachers can absolutely take these courses, and many do for their own professional learning, but no vacation days come with it.
How do I prove I did the course?
With a Certificate of Attendance from the provider, which you give to your principal at the start of the school year.
The certificate has to show your course start date and completion date, and for online, blended and pilot courses it must be co-signed by the course tutor or director. Your school keeps a copy for audit and records the leave on the Online Claims System.
Where is the official list of approved courses?
Drumcondra Education Support Centre publishes the national listing on behalf of the Department. It is searchable by provider, category, county, venue and format. The programme hub on the same site holds the Providers Handbook and the circulars.
If a course is not on that list, it does not carry EPV days, whatever the marketing says.
Is anything changing for 2027?
Two things to keep an eye on, and one honest unknown.
The Department ran a teacher survey on the Summer Course Programme that closed in October 2025, as part of a review of the programme. No outcome has been published, and nothing suggests the entitlement itself is changing.
Separately, the course approval cycle is at a natural break point. A three year cycle began in 2023 and was extended to cover 2026 as an exceptional measure during the review. That means 2027 starts a new approval cycle, so the list of available courses may look different and some familiar ones may not return.
The 2027 dates, formats and application details have not been published. Based on previous years they usually appear between January and March.
Where this comes from
Everything above is drawn from the following, rather than from other providers’ websites. If you want to check anything yourself, these are the documents.
- Circular 37/97, Extra Personal Vacation, Rule 58 of the Rules for National Schools, 1st September 1997. Sets the entitlement and the five day cap.
- Circular 0035/2009, Extra Personal Vacation, 1st July 2009. Certificates, principal approval, recording and audit.
- Circular 0032/2007, Teacher Absences. Confirms no paid substitute cover for EPV leave.
- Department notice on EPV days and online courses, 26th June 2014. Mode of delivery does not affect the award.
- Summer Courses Providers Handbook 2026, published March 2026. Course formats, hours, dates and certification.
- Extra personal vacation days for teachers, gov.ie.
- The approved course listing published by Drumcondra Education Support Centre.
Last checked 13th September 2026. The rules do change, so if you are reading this well after that date it is worth confirming anything that matters to you against the current circulars.
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