An
academic term is a division of an academic
year, the time during which a
school,
college or
university holds classes. These divisions may be
called "terms", "semesters", "
quarters", or "
trimesters", depending on the institution and the
country.
In most northern hemisphere countries an
academic
year begins with the start of autumn and ends the
following summer.
Australia and New Zealand
In most of
Australia and New Zealand
, the school year lasts from late January to early
December, and is split into four terms.
- Term 1: Starts late January and ends one or
two weeks before Easter
- Term 2: Starts one or two weeks after Easter
and ends in late June.
- Term 3: Starts mid-July and ends mid
September.
- Term 4: Starts early October and ends mid
December.
The exact dates vary from year to year, as well as between states,
and for
public and
private school.
In Tasmania
, the school
year is split in to three terms, the first one being the longest
and including an extended Easter
holiday. The following is a link with details on Australian
term dates for 2008.
In New Zealand, the law requires schools to be open a minimum of
380 half-days for secondary schools and 394 half-days (384
half-days from 2008) for primary and intermediate schools.
Australian
universities have two
semesters a year, between February and November. Many universities
offer an optional short summer semester. One recent innovation in
Australian higher education has been the establishment of the fully
distance / online Open Universities Australia (formerly Open
Learning Australia) that offers continuous study opportunities of
individual units of study (what are called courses in North
America) that can lead to full degree qualifications. Open
Universities Australia operates four 13-week study periods each
year. Since students study only part-time and off campus these
study periods mesh reasonably easily with existing university
offerings based on semesters. In some cases a "Semester" is
referred to as a "Study Period", for example, by the
Centerlink.
Austria
The
Austrian school year for primary and secondary schools is split
into two terms, the first one starts on the first Monday in
September in the states of Vienna
, Lower Austria
and Burgenland
and on the second Monday of September in Upper Austria, Salzburg
, Styria
, Carinthia
, Tyrol
and Vorarlberg
. Most schools have holidays between the
national holiday on October 26 and All Souls Day on November 2, but
those are unofficial holidays not observed by all schools in
Austria. Christmas holidays start on December 24 and end on the
first weekday after January 6. The first term ends in Vienna and
Lower Austria on the first Friday of February, in Burgenland,
Carinthia, Salzburg, Tyrol and Vorarlberg on the second Friday of
February and in Upper Austria and Styria on the third Friday of
February.
There is a one-week break between the two terms. In the second term
there are the
Easter holidays, the Mayday
Holiday on May 1 and the
long weekends
of
Pentecost,
Ascension and
Corpus Christi. The school year ends
in Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland on the last Friday of June,
in Upper Austria, Styria, Carinthia, Salzburg, Tyrol and Vorarlberg
on the first Friday in July.
Barbados
The Barbadian school year is fashioned after the British system,
and as such, it follows a scheduling with three terms per school
year. The first term begins the second week of September,
adjourning in mid-December. The second term begins in the second
week of January, adjourning in the first week of April. The final
third term begins at the end of April and concludes in the first
week of July.
Brazil
In
Brazil
, due to the Law of Directives and Bases of
Brazilian Education, the academic year must have 200 days, both at
schools and at universities. The school year usually begins
during the first week of February. There is a 3-week long winter
break in July. The Brazilian school year ends in December, summer
in Brazil.
In Brazilian universities academic terms are defined as periods or
semesters (
período,
semestre). The majority of
undergraduate courses are 8 semesters
(four-year) long or 10 semesters (five-year) long.
Bangladesh
In
Bangladesh
, the kindergarten, elementary, middle schools and
universities follow yearly, bi-semester or tri-semester
system. Most of the public universities follow a yearly
system except universities that teach Applied Sciences. Most
engineering and agricultural universities follow a bi-semester
system with each semester being six months long.
Engineering
universities describe the academic year system as LEVEL-X(1-4),
TERM-X(1-4).This system is followed by universities like BUET
, and SUST
. Most of the private universities (e.g.
East West University) follow a
tri-semester system though there are few exceptions that follow a
bi-semester system (e.g.
Ahsanullah University of Science and
Technology
).
Some of the universities and their semester titles are as follows:
Belgium
In
Belgium
, school begins on 1 September and ends on June
30.
Schools also take breaks/holidays:
- Autumn break: One week at start of
November
- Christmas break Two weeks around Christmas and New
Year
- Additional break One week of end of
February.
- Easter break Two weeks around Easter.
- Summer break is the break from July 1 to
September 1
Canada
Generally
in Canada
, high schools run on a two-semester arrangement
(often with a between-semester school holiday including Christmas
and New Year's Day), also known as fall and spring semester, the
first semester starting from September to January and the second
running from February until June. The semesters are often
divided into two terms each. Some schools in Canada run on a
three-trimester system, the first running from September to
January, the second from January to March, and the third from March
until June. The trimester is more common in elementary and middle
schools (K-8) than in high schools (9-12). In Canada the school
year for elementary and high school consists of 190 days. There are
a few school boards in Canada experimenting with a year
schooling.
Most
Universities usually run
from early September until the end of April or early May. Often
this winter session is split into two terms running September to
December and January to April. Various forms of summer studies may
be offered May to August.
Some, such as Simon Fraser
University
, run a full tri-semester system, providing full
courses during summer.
Ontario Ministry of Education Academic School Year
Information
Association of Universities and Colleges of
Canada
China
In
China
, all schools including elementary, middle and high
schools, colleges and universities have two semesters, one from
February or March, depending on the date of Chinese New Year of that year, to July, the
other from September to January.
Czech Republic
In the
elementary and high schools in the Czech Republic
, the school year usually runs from 1 September to
30 June of the following year. The start and end for every
day is usually 8:00 am to 3:00 pm in most schools.
Denmark
In
schools in Denmark
, the school year runs from August to June.
In universities, the academic year runs from around 1 September to
1 July, and is often divided into an autumn semester (with January
set aside for exams) and a spring semester (with June set aside for
exams). Since 2004, some Danish universities and faculties divide
the academic year into four quarters, each of which may consist of
eight weeks and an exam week, and being separated from the next
quarter by a one-week break.
Estonia
In
Estonia
, elementary and high school begin at 1 September
and end in the beginning of June. Universities start on the
first Monday of September and usually end in the middle of May or
in the beginning of June though in reality exam periods may
continue until the end of June (e.g. University of Tartu).
Estonian Ministry of Education and Research
Germany
Schools
The
school year in Germany
runs from September to next September and includes
six breaks/holidays:
- Christmas Break: Two weeks around Christmas and New
Year
- Winter Break or Carnival
Break: One week or two weeks of February or the beginning
of March.
- Easter Break: Two weeks of March / April
- Whitsun Break: One week or two weeks around
Whitsun (not in all states)
- Summer Break: Six weeks from July to
September
- Autumn Break: One week or two weeks in
October/November
Due to the Germany's federal structure, all breaks may differ
depending on the
state.
The exact dates for the beginning and the end of school breaks are
kept different state by state and changed every year. This is meant
to keep holiday traffic as low as possible.
Universities
German universities run two semesters. They are from April to July
(
Sommersemester) and from October to February
(
Wintersemester). In addition to the two breaks between
the semesters, there is typically a two-week break for Christmas as
well. The semester is divided into blocks with and without
lectures. The lectures usually start two to four weeks after the
beginning of the semester and run for three months. The lecture
free period is for taking exams, doing internships, lab courses and
employment.
The
University
of Mannheim
changed their schedule to conform with
international standards in Fall of 2006. The semesters there
are now from August 1 to January 31
(
Herbst-/Wintersemester) and from February 1 to July 31
(
Frühjahrs-/Sommersemester).
Guyana
The school year in Guyana usually begins in September and ends in
July of the following year. It has three terms: Christmas (First),
Easter (Second) and August (Third), with two to three weeks break
for Christmas and Easter and six-seven weeks during the August
term.
Hong Kong
In Hong Kong the academic year runs from September to July for most
primary and secondary schools. Some secondary schools have a
three-term academic calendar, but the majority have two. For
universities and other tertiary institutions the academic year
usually runs from September or October to April or May. With an
extra summer term roughly from May to July.
Hungary
In the
elementary and high schools in Hungary
, the school year usually runs from 1 September to
10–15 June of the next year.
India
In elementary and high school, the school year is usually from
April to March, while in Universities it is from August to April.
There is a mid year break during summer, usually from mid of May to
end of July. There is also a winter vacation of 2 weeks at the end
of the year.
However, in the southern states like
Kerala
there will
be two breaks, one for Onam in August and
another for Christmas in December which
ranges from 10–15 days. Semester system is being implemented
in most of the Universities in India as directed by the University
Grants Commission. Kerala University, MG University and Sri Sankara
University have reached into a consensus and the other universities
are also likely to introduce credit based semester system in
Kerala. Delhi University also introduced this system.
Iran
In Iran the academic year runs from September to June. Some
universities, however, offer a limited number of courses in summer.
Students have a three month summer vacation. Moreover, all schools
are closed during
Nowruz to celebrate Iranian new year from the
middle of March till the beginning of April. The first (fall)
semester begins in September and ends in January. The second
(spring) semester begins in February and ends in June. No mid-term
break exists in the academic calendar.
Ireland
The primary school year generally runs from the beginning of
September till the end of June. There are breaks for Christmas and
Easter and two mid-term breaks usually in late October and
mid-February. Secondary schools run a similar schedule but break at
the end of May for summer holidays (the
Junior Certificate and
Leaving Certificate examinations take
place in June). Third level institutions run a much shorter
calendar, generally from mid to late September, sometimes early
October, through to December for their first semester. The second
semester usually runs from January through to mid to late May with
a break for Easter of up to a month.
It usually lasts for a minimum of 183 days in primary schools, and
about 168 days in secondary schools.
Israel
The
school year in Israel
starts in
elementary and high schools on September 1, and ends on June 20
(middle and high schools) or June 30 (elementary schools).
There are no fixed holidays of equal length, with breaks occurring
on national holidays, usually two or three days. On Hannukah
(December) there is a seven day break, on Sukkot (autumn) there is
a nine day break, and on Passover (spring) the break is 2–3 weeks
long.
The university academic year starts after
Sukkot (typically mid- to late October) and ends in
June.
The short breaks:
- Rosh Hashanah: three day break, the break in
mid-September or late September.
- Yom Kippur: two days break, the break in late
September or early October.
- Sukkot: 9 day break in October/ November
- Purim: three day break, the break in late
February or early March.
- Yom Ha'atzmaut: one day break, the break in
late April or early May. before day, in Yom Hazikaron studying only half day.
- Lag BaOmer: one day break, the break in early
May or mid-May.
- Shavuot: three day break, the break in late
May or early June.
The school year in Israel is divided into two terms:
- Term 1: Start in 1 September to late January
or early February.
- Term 2: Start in late January or early
February to late June.
Japan
In
Japan
, almost all schools run a three-term school year
(trimester system), and most universities and colleges have a
semester system. Most schools with a trimester system have a
first term from April 1 to mid-July. The exact date of the
beginning of the summer break and its duration vary across regions,
but commonly the break lasts for about one or two months.
The break
originated to avoid the heat in summer, so elementary, middle, and
high schools in Hokkaidō
and Nagano Prefecture
tend to have a shorter summer break than the rest
of schools in Japan. A second term lasts from early
September to late December with a winter break at the end of the
year. The term is followed by a third term from early January to
early March and a brief spring break lasting several weeks. The
graduation ceremony occurs in
March, and the enrollment ceremony in early April.
Some universities and colleges accept students in September or
October in order to let those students from other semester systems
enroll. In recent years a few colleges have begun experimenting
with having two semesters instead of the traditional three with the
break between two semesters in summer.
Korea, South
In
South
Korea
, the school year is divided into two terms.
The first term runs from early March to late August with the summer
vacation from mid-July to mid-August (elementary and secondary
schools) and from mid-June to late August (higher education
institutions). The second term usually resumes in late August and
runs until mid-February. In the second term, there is a long winter
break from mid-December to early February.
Lithuania
In
Lithuania
, elementary and high school begin at 1 September
and end in the middle of June.
Schools also take breaks/holidays:
- Autumn break: One week at start of
November
- Christmas break: Two weeks around Christmas and New
Year
- Additional break: One week of end of February.
Only in primary school and primary classes in elementary
schools
- Easter break: One week around the Easter.
- Summer break: From June to September 1
Malaysia
There are
two semesters in each primary and secondary school year in Malaysia
. The first semester begins in the first week
of January and ends in late May the same year. After the mid-term
holidays, which lasts for two weeks, the final semester will
commence in June and ends in early November. The following school
year will start after a two-month long school holiday in November
to early January.
The last day of school is generally Friday, with the first day of a
long school holiday being Saturday.
School holidays normally begin one day
earlier in Kelantan
, Kedah
and
Terengganu
compared to the rest of the country. This is
due to these states observing a Friday-Saturday weekend, instead of
the usual Saturday-Sunday weekend.
Schools in Malaysia also take breaks during most national and
certain respective state holidays. Government and special schools
can apply for additional holidays during
Chinese New Year or
Deepavali, but they have to replace every school day
which is missed, and normally this is done prior to the additional
holidays taken.
Mexico
The
school year in Mexico
has a
duration of nine months: starts middle August and finishes in the
last weeks of June or July. The calendar is designed by the
Secretariat of Public Education
SEP the
government department overseeing public education in Mexico with
arrangement of the leaders of the National Educational Workers
Union
SNTE. All public and private elementary
schools under the guidance of the dependence observe this year.
In the
case of universities normally their school years according their
educational plans and students population like UNAM
the school
year starts in last week of July and the school year is divided in
semesters, trimesters or semesters according their needs and
coverage.
Official web page
of SEP
Oman
The
school years in Oman
is divided
into two semesters. The first starts in early September and
runs to early/mid January depending on the level. The second
semester runs from early February to late May Usually there are
exams at the end of each semester. Students get a number of breaks
throughout the year: National Day on 18 November, New Higri year
break, Prophet Mohammed birthday break, Eid Al-Fitr break and Eid
Al-Adha break. As most of these breaks depend on the Higri year
which is 10 days shorter than the Solar year, there is a gradual
change on the date of these events in relation to the school
year.
Pakistan
In
Pakistan
the school year runs from September to June.
Students have a 3 month summer vacation and two week winter
vacation.
In the northern areas
, Kashmir
, and some areas of Balochistan
where heavy snowfall paralyzes life in the winter,
the schools close for two months and in such areas there are two
weeks of summer vacation.
At the university level, the semester system is followed.
Schools and universities are off on national holidays: Pakistan Day
(March 23), Independence Day (August 14), Defence of Pakistan Day
(September 6),
Pakistan Air Force
Day (September 7), the anniversaries of the birth (December 25) and
death (September 11) of
Quaid-e-Azam,
Allama Iqbal (November 9) and the birth
(July 30) and death (July 8) of
Madar-e-Millat.
Labour
Day (also known as
May Day) is also
observed in Pakistan on May 1. Both
Eid festivals are also public
holidays.
In Lahore the semester system is applied in the well known
university named "University of engineering and technology Lahore".
Here in this only the holidays are for two and half month during
summer.
Philippines
The Philippine school year runs for 10 months, and a school year
must be at least 200 days as prescribed by law. The school year
begins between the first, second or third weeks of June and lasts
until the last week of March.
For primary and secondary schools, an academic year is divided in
quarters. Each quarter consists of two and one-half months, and
there is a one-week break between the second and third quarters.
The one-week break commonly coincides with
All Saints Day. For universities and
colleges, an academic year is divided into 2 semesters. The first
semester is followed by a break consisting of two to four weeks
before the second semester. The semester break for all universities
and colleges usually happens between the second week of October to
the first week of November. Also private schools also use the
semester system which has one-week semestral break to coincide with
All Saints Day.
The summer break usually lasts for two months, from the first week
of April to the last week of May. Christmas break usually begins in
the third week of December, and class resumes the Monday after
New Year's Day. Most schools end
their school year before the
Holy Week.
Commencement ceremonies are often held in late March or early
April.
Poland
In
Poland
the
academic year begins on September 1 and ends on the first Friday
after June 18. There is a
Christmas
break in December which lasts until after
New Year's Day. There is also a winter
holiday break lasting two weeks in January or February but the
exact date is different for each province and the dates usually
change each year. Winter break is also the dividing line between
the two semesters of the school year.
Most universities start their courses on October 1 (at some
institutions late September), and ending in January. The first
semester of the academic year is commonly referred to as the
"
winter term". In February or March starts the second
term, called also "
summer term", which finishes in June.
Each semester is usually 15 or 16 weeks long. After each of them
there is an "
examination session", when no courses are
taught, which lasts up to one month. Summer break starts after the
exams and lasts until the start of the next academic year. In
September there is an extra examination session during which
students can retake failed exams.
Portugal
The
school year in Portugal
runs from September to June and it is divided in
three Terms (or Períodos, in Portuguese):
- 1st Term: From middle September until middle
December
- 2nd Term: From the beginning of January until
Easter (March–April)
- 3rd Term: From the week after Easter (April) until the end of June (except for 9th
and 12th grades, who finish early due to exams)
During the school year there are several breaks or holidays
(
interrupções or
férias, in
Portuguese):
- Christmas Break: Usually beginning in the 3rd
week of December and lasts for two weeks including Christmas and New Year
holidays. The 2nd term then begins, often in the first Monday of
January.
- Carnival Break: Three days (Monday, Tuesday
and Wednesday) during Carnival. This break
used to be one week long but in recent years it has been
reduced.
- Easter Break: Two weeks including Easter. It varies form year to year, but it is
usually around late March or middle April.
- Summer Break: Usually known as "Férias
Grandes" (Big Holidays) it lasts during the summer from late
June to middle September and it separates one school year from
another.
Universities and colleges follow a different academic year, which
consists of two semesters.
Russia
The
school year in Russia
traditionally starts on 1 September—The Knowledge Day—and lasts until 25 May which is
also known as The Last School-Bell day for the graduates.
The school year is divided into four terms, or 'quarters',
separated by one- or two-week holidays (the first week in November,
the first two weeks in January, and the last week of March). School
summer holidays last for three months: June, July, and
August.
The academic year at universities also starts on 1 September. It
consists of two terms (1 September–circa 20 December followed by a
five-week winter exams session and 7 February–circa 20 May followed
by a five-week summer exams session).
Singapore
Schools
The school year coincides with the calendar year, and the first
term begins on 2 January (unless it is a public holiday or the
weekend). The school year comprises four terms of approximately 10
weeks each.
- Term 1: January to March (Term 1 holidays: one
week)
- Term 2: March to May (Term 2 holidays: four
weeks)
- Term 3: June to September (Term 3 holidays:
one week)
- Term 4: September to November (Long holidays:
seven weeks)
Terms 1 and 2 are known as Semester 1, and terms 3 and 4 as
Semester 2. The first year of Junior College begins in February to
accommodate the release of the O level results.
International schools in Singapore operate on a different system,
often similar to the system in their home countries.
Polytechnics
Polytechnics and universities operate on a different calendar from
schools. There are two semesters in a year in polytechnics.
- Semester 1: April to August (with a break
period in June)
- Semester 2: October to February (with a break
period around Christmas)
Universities
The university calendar was influenced by the academic year in
India. It has since evolved to match the northern hemisphere
calendar more closely.
- Semester 1: August to December
- Semester 2: January to May
Slovenia
The
school year in Slovenia
for elementary and grammar schools begins on 1
September and formally ends on 31 August, although classes and
exams are finished by 25 June. July and August thus
constitute summer holidays. There are also four one-week breaks
during the school year, occurring around
All Saints Day, between
Christmas and
New Year, at
the end of February, and around the
May
Day.
Universities and colleges follow a different academic year. It
consists of two semesters—the winter semester starting on 1
October, which ends around 15 January. It is followed by one-month
break, during which students sit the exams for subjects they have
read in the semester. The summer semester begins on 15 February and
lasts until 31 May, followed by the exam period, which ends on 30
June. Students who have not passed the necessary exams have a
chance to do so during the autumn exam period in September.
Students and faculty are free during in July and August. New
classes are held again in October.
South Africa
All
South African public schools have a
four-term school year as determined by the national Department of
Education. Each term is between 10 and 11 weeks long. The terms are
roughly structured as follows:
First Term
- Begins mid-January and ends before Good
Friday (Usually in March or April).
- Followed by the Easter Holidays, which
usually lasts 10 days.
Second Term
- Begins mid-April and ends June
- Followed by the Winter Holidays, which
usually lasts 21 days.
Third Term
- Begins mid-July and ends September
- Followed by the September Holidays, also sometimes called the
Spring Holidays, and usually lasts 10 days.
Fourth Term
- Begins early October and ends early December
- Followed by the Christmas Holidays,
also sometimes called the December or Summer Holidays, and usually
lasts approximately 40 days.
The academic year is approximately 200 school days in duration and
runs from January to December. Private schools follow a similar
calendar, but slightly alter it according to their academic and
religious needs. The dates of the school year for coastal schools
is slightly different to that for inland schools.
The National Education Department has proposed a five-week long
school break in June-July when South Africa hosts the 2010 Soccer
World Cup to avoid pupil and teacher absenteeism and a chaotic
transport system.
Thailand
There are two semesters in Thai academic year with an optional
summer semester. From kindergarten to high school the first
semester opens in mid May and continues until the end of September.
The second semester lasts from November until the end of February
(or early March). The university academic year is slightly
different, lasting from June to October and mid November to mid
March.
United Kingdom
In
England
and Wales
, the
teaching school year of 190 days generally runs from early to
mid-September to mid- to late July, the following year. In
Northern Ireland, the school year runs from the start of September
to the end of June, and there are also three terms. In Scotland the
school year begins mid-August and ends late June/early July. Both
four term and three term systems are used in Scotland depending on
the education authority.
English, Welsh and Northern Irish schools
Most schools run a three-term school year. They usually have a
week's break half way through (half-term) and are structured
as:
- Autumn term: September to December (half-term, October)
- Spring term: January to Easter (half-term, February)
- Summer term: Easter to July
(half-term, May)
- Northern Ireland's summer term lasts from Easter to the end of
June, with no half term. The province's summer holiday then lasts
nine weeks, from the start of July until the end of August. This is
because of their Twelfth of July
holiday.
The time between the end of school and the start of the next
academic year is known as the summer holiday or, as was the
traditional length of the break, the six-week holiday. Term Dates
for maintained schools are set by
Local Education Authorities,
some of which have begun to trial alternative arrangements.
Alternative arrangements
The academic year was originally designed for the pre-industrial
era when all able-bodied young people were needed to help with
harvesting over the summer. It is thus designed around a long
holiday in July and August, placing the rest of the year into three
terms arranged around Christmas and Easter, which constrain things
still further. The long terms then require a half-term break to
give pupils and teachers time to recharge.
The long summer holiday has often been criticised by
educationalists who say that the long breaks delays academic
progress. Even a House of Commons Education Select Committee
recommended in 1999 that schools should switch to a five-term
academic year, abolishing the long summer holidays. Each term would
be eight weeks long with a two-week break in between, and a minimum
four-week summer holiday, with no half terms—the idea being that
children can keep up momentum for eight weeks without a break. The
proposals were introduced at a small number of schools
nationally.
In 1999, the
Local
Government Association set up a commission to look at
alternative proposals for a more balanced school year. In
partnership with
Local
Authorities and teachers unions, they were unable to agree a
suitable alternative arrangement for terms, but by 2004 came to an
agreement with the
National
Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers for a
standardised arrangement of school terms. Since 2004 around one
third of English local authorities have signed up to the proposals
which see a standard academic year agreed between the authorities,
and includes slight variations on the traditional schemes, based on
the following principles:
- start the school year on a September date as near as possible
to 1 September;
- equalise teaching and learning blocks (roughly 2×7 and 4×6
weeks);
- establish a two-week spring break in early April irrespective
of the incidence of the Easter bank holiday. (Where the break does
not coincide with the bank holiday the date should be, as far as
practicable, nationally agreed and as consistent as possible across
all local authorities);
- allow for the possibility of a summer holiday of at least six
weeks for those schools which want this length of break.
- identify and agree annually designated periods of holiday,
including the summer holiday, where head teachers are recommended
not to arrange teacher days.
Scottish schools
In
Scotland
, school begins in late August, and ends around late
June or early July, usually in eastern counties from the third
Monday in August to the first Friday in July and in western
counties from the second Monday in August to the last Friday in
June. Pupils attend school for approximately 190 days a
year.
Most schools run a three-term school year and are structured
as:
- Autumn term: Mid-August to December (October Holidays: Two
Weeks; Christmas Holidays: Two Weeks)
- Winter term: January to March (Easter Holidays: Two Weeks)
- Spring term: April to July (Summer Holidays: Six Weeks)
Universities
As with many aspects of UK universities, there are a lot of
differing practices that use confusingly similar terminology. Many
universities run 10-week Autumn, Spring and Summer terms, though
some use different names or a semester system, with the new
semester beginning halfway through the second term. Many other
universities run unevenly lengthened terms, with the autumn term
usually the longest. Even within individual institutions practice
can vary from year to year to accommodate factors such as the
changing date of
Easter. Some universities
also have a "reading week" in which no teaching takes place at all,
the equivalent of a school half term. At other universities
"reading weeks" are not uniform and may be in different weeks in
different faculties, departments, modules or even seminar groups.
Some reading weeks only cover seminars whilst lectures continue;
others suspend both for the week.
- Cambridge
: Michaelmas, Lent, Easter (eight-week
terms)
- Durham
: Michaelmas, Epiphany, Easter (ten, nine and nine
weeks respectively)
- King's College London
: Autumn, Spring
- University of Wales, Lampeter
: Michaelmas, Lent, Easter (twelve, ten and eight
weeks respectively)
- Lancaster
: Michaelmas Term,
Lent Term, Summer Term (ten-week
terms)
- London School of Economics
(LSE): Michaelmas, Lent, Summer
- Queen Mary, University of
London
: Term 1, Term 2, Exam term (twelve-week
terms)
- School of
Oriental and African Studies
(SOAS): Term 1, Term 2, Term 3
- Oxford
: Michaelmas, Hilary, Trinity (eight-week
terms)
- St Andrews
: Martinmas, Candlemas (Traditionally Martinmas,
Candlemas and Whitsunday)
- University College London
(UCL): First, Second, Third
Exceptions include the Open
University
and the
University
of Buckingham
where undergraduate courses do not coincide with
the academic year used by universities in Britain and
elsewhere. Instead, they largely coincide with the calendar
year—they typically start in January or February, with examinations
in autumn
In England, academic and judicial institutions traditionally
organised their year into four terms:
In Scotland, academic and judicial institutions traditionally
organised their year into four terms:
- Candlemas: 2 February, Candlemas, which fell forty days after
Christmas, marked the presentation of the infant Jesus in the
temple and the purification of the Virgin Mary.
- Whitsunday: originally a moveable term day, coming the seventh
Sunday after Easter, was fixed in Scotland at 15 May in 1693.
Whitsunday was originally the feast of Pentecost, around which a
great many christenings would occur, so it became associated with
the color white.
- Lammas Day: 1 August, feast of St. Peter ad Vincula was a
corruption of loaf-mass, the Sunday on which the first fruits of
harvest were offered, first corn ground, and first loaf made. In
Scotland it was associated with hand-fasting and some fairs on this
day were called handfasting fairs. (Originally synonymous with
betrothal, handfasting became a contract binding a man and woman to
live together for a year and a day before they decided on permanent
marriage.)
- Martinmas: 11 November, was known as St. Martin in Winter or
St. Martin of Tours to distinguish this from another feast of St.
Martin in July.
(Specific dates varied between institutions, and all except
Michaelmas were determined by the date of Easter).
Over
time, Cambridge dropped Trinity term and renamed Hilary to
Lent, then Oxford also dropped Trinity term, and renamed Easter term
as 'Trinity' thus establishing the three-term academic
year.
United States of America
Primary and secondary schools
In the
United
States
, the academic year for most K–12 institutions typically consists
of two 18-week semesters, each divided into two nine-week marking
periods (or quarters) or three six-week marking periods, and
typically constituting 180 instructional days. An
instructional week is five instructional days, measured
Monday–Friday at most public and private schools; Sunday–Thursday
at some Jewish private schools; Saturday–Wednesday or
Sunday–Thursday at Muslim private schools; and so on. Grades are
usually reported per marking period, but major examinations are
given per semester or per year.
The traditional start date for the school year has been the day
after
Labor Day (the first Tuesday after
the first Monday in September), but many schools now start in the
last two weeks of August and some schools (especially private ones)
may start as late as the end of September or the first week in
October. There are also some schools, especially in the southern
tier of the United States, that begin at the end of July and early
August. The school year ends 31 instructional weeks after it
begins. Also, some schools are now moving to the first Wednesday in
September (usually two days after Labor Day, unless it falls on
September 1 or 2) to allow a short week as people adjust to being
in school again.
School holidays, which are not counted as instructional days,
typically include Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving Friday
(two days although many systems take the Wednesday and/or the
following Monday off as well), a winter break beginning on or
before Christmas Eve through the day after New Year's Day (about 10
days), Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday,
Presidents' Day, spring break during the
Western Christian Holy Week and sometimes the day after
Easter (five or six days), and Memorial Day. Some
schools also observe one or more of Columbus Day, Veteran's Day,
Lincoln's Birthday, Washington's Birthday, and other state or local
holidays. Some schools have additional holidays for students that
are workdays for the staff, such as parent–teacher conference days.
The aggregate of school holidays typically amounts to 20 days, so
an academic year that starts the last week of August or first week
of September will typically finish the second or third week of
June. Schools that start in July or early August end in middle to
late May.
Community colleges
Many community colleges originated as extensions of the primary and
secondary school system. These colleges often continue to follow
the K-12 schedule.
Collegiate calendars
Three calendar systems are used by most American colleges and
universities:
quarter
system, semester system, and trimester system. These are ways
the calendar year, measured September–August or August–August, are
organized into a formal academic year. Some schools, particularly
some business schools and community colleges, use the minimester or
mini-semester system.
The quarter system divides the calendar year into four quarters,
three of which constitute a complete academic year. Quarters are
typically 10 weeks long so that three quarters amount to 30 weeks
of instruction. Approximately 20% of universities are on the
quarter system. Most colleges that use the quarter system have a
fall quarter from late September to mid-December, a winter quarter
from early January to mid-March, a spring quarter from late March
or early April to mid-June, and an optional summer session.
The semester system divides the calendar year into two semesters of
15 weeks each, plus optional summer sessions of varying lengths.
The two semesters together constitute 30 weeks of instruction, so
that three academic quarters equal two academic semesters. Thus,
academic credit earned in quarter hours converts to semester hours
at 2/3 of its value, while credit earned in semester hours converts
to quarter hours at 3/2 of its value. Or, to put it another way, 3
quarter hours = 2 semester hours. Most universities on the semester
system have a fall semester from late August to mid-December, a
spring semester from early or mid-January to early or mid-May, and
an optional summer session.
In practice, the average quarter course is four or five units and
the average semester course is three units, so a full time student
graduating in four years would take five courses per semester and
three or four courses per quarter.
Some
colleges and universities, such as Berea College
, the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
, the University of Massachusetts
Amherst, Calvin
College
, Williams College,
Linfield
College
, Oberlin
College
, Middlebury College
, University of Maryland,
Baltimore County, Eckerd College
, Wofford
College
, Austin
College
, Samford University
, University of Delaware
, Saint Mary's College of
California and Colby
College
, have a 4-1-4 system, which divides the year into
two four-month terms (September to December and February to May) as
well as a single one-month term in January in which students can do
independent study, study abroad, internships, activities or focus
on one or two classes. The one-month term is sometimes
called a
mini-mester or a
winter session.
Some
schools, such as Transylvania University
and Purdue University
have a similar format, but ordered as 4-4-1, with
the short term at in May after the conclusion of the spring
semester. The term is sometimes called either "Maymester", a
portmanteau of "May" and "semester", or
"May term".
The trimester system evolved out of the semester system. It divides
the academic year into three equal portions of 10–11 weeks each.
Institutions that use the trimester system
include California Institute of
Technology
the United
States Merchant Marine Academy
, the University of Michigan
, Lawrence
University, Carleton
College
and Knox College 
. The fall and winter and spring
trimesters constitute an academic year of 30–32 weeks. The reduced
maximum course load that accompanies the shortening from the
traditional semester makes the trimester system compatible with the
semester system. Academic credit is thus measured on the trimester
system in semester hours; there is no such thing as a "trimester
hour" of credit.
A number of colleges have adopted the "One Course At A Time" or
"block schedule" calendar. Academic years consist of a number of
terms lasting roughly four weeks each, during which a full
semester's worth of work is completed in one, and only one, class.
Colorado College first began their "Block
Plan" in 1970 , followed by Cornell College
in 1978 . Quest University
in Squamish, British Columbia; Tusculum
College
in Tusculum, Tennessee
; and The
University of Montana - Western are the only other colleges
operating under this academic calendar.
See also
References
- Schulferien 2007 - Schulferien.org
- http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semester
- Kwazulu Natal Education Department
- Daily Dispatch East London
- Clarke, Conor. "The case against summer". The Guardian, 19 July
2007. Accessed 22 July 2009.
- "Inquiry to consider five-term year".
BBC News, 3 January
2000. Accessed 22 July 2009.
- Standard school year. Local Government Association, 4
September 2008. Accessed 22 July 2009.
- Chicago: Academic Calendar
- Academic calendar, Academics, Freshman, Office of
Undergraduate Admission - Northwestern University
- The Colorado College Block Plan
- Cornell College One Course At A Time
: Spring, Summer and Fall.
: Spring, Summer (short semester) and
Fall.
: Spring, Summer and Fall.
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