LSE Term Dates 2026/27 run from Monday, September 28, 2026 through Friday, June 11, 2027, structured across three terms — Autumn Term, Winter Term and Spring Term — at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE.
The year opens with Welcome Week from Friday, September 18, 2026 to Friday, September 25, 2026, and closes with Spring Term examinations running into the second week of June 2027.
Table of Contents
LSE Term Dates 2026/27 at a Glance
The table below lists every fixed date in LSE’s 2026/27 academic calendar in chronological order. All dates are drawn directly from LSE’s official term dates page.
| Period | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome Week | Friday, September 18, 2026 | Friday, September 25, 2026 |
| Autumn Term | Monday, September 28, 2026 | Friday, December 11, 2026 |
| — Autumn Term Reading Week | Monday, November 2, 2026 | Friday, November 6, 2026 |
| Winter Break | Monday, December 14, 2026 | Friday, January 8, 2027 |
| January Exams | Monday, January 4, 2027 | Sunday, January 10, 2027 |
| Winter Term | Monday, January 11, 2027 | Thursday, March 25, 2027 |
| — Winter Term Reading Week | Monday, February 15, 2027 | Friday, February 19, 2027 |
| Spring Break | Friday, March 26, 2027 | Friday, April 23, 2027 |
| Spring Term | Monday, April 26, 2027 | Friday, June 11, 2027 |
For students on a 12-month master’s programme, or in Year 2 of a 24-month master’s programme, Spring Term does not end on June 11, 2027.
It extends until the specific end date published for that programme, which typically falls later in the summer to accommodate dissertation submission.
LSE Academic Calendar 2026/27 in Full
LSE structures its academic year into three terms of unequal length rather than two semesters, a format shared by most pre-1992 UK universities but distinct from the US two-semester system.
Autumn Term and Winter Term each run 11 numbered teaching weeks; Spring Term runs 7. The sections below break down every fixed period in sequence, with the reasoning behind each start and end date.
Welcome Week 2026
Welcome Week 2026 runs from Friday, September 18, 2026 to Friday, September 25, 2026, one full week before Autumn Term teaching begins on Monday, September 28, 2026.
This period covers enrolment, induction sessions, and — for continuing undergraduate, General Course and intercollegiate students — the publication of personal timetables from 10:00 AM on Wednesday, September 23, 2026. New, intercollegiate and General Course students receive personal timetables from 10:00 AM on Friday, September 25, 2026, and postgraduate students from 10:00 AM on Thursday, September 24, 2026.
Autumn Term 2026
Autumn Term 2026 runs Monday, September 28, 2026 to Friday, December 11, 2026, a span of 75 calendar days across 11 numbered teaching weeks. Reading Week falls in Week 6, from Monday, November 2, 2026 to Friday, November 6, 2026. No lectures or seminars are scheduled during Reading Week; it sits within term time, not vacation, for both academic and Student visa purposes.
Winter Break and January Exams 2027
Winter Break 2026/27 runs Monday, December 14, 2026 to Friday, January 8, 2027, a total of 26 calendar days. January Exams for Autumn Term assessments run Monday, January 4, 2027 to Sunday, January 10, 2027 — meaning the exam window opens four days before Winter Break formally ends on January 8. Students with January exams should not treat the full six-week gap between terms as free time; roughly the final week overlaps directly with assessment.
Winter Term 2027
Winter Term 2027 runs Monday, January 11, 2027 to Thursday, March 25, 2027, not Friday. This is a genuine scheduling anomaly, not an error: Good Friday falls on Friday, March 26, 2027, a public holiday, so LSE ends the term one day early rather than teaching through it. The term still carries 11 numbered weeks, but Week 11 (commencing Monday, March 22, 2027) is a four-day week. Reading Week falls in Week 6, from Monday, February 15, 2027 to Friday, February 19, 2027.
Spring Break 2027
Spring Break 2027 runs Friday, March 26, 2027, to Friday, April 23, 2027, a total of 29 calendar days — the longest of LSE’s three inter-term breaks. It absorbs the full Easter period: Good Friday (March 26, 2027), Easter Monday (March 29, 2027), and the following weeks before Spring Term teaching resumes.
Spring Term 2027
Spring Term 2027 runs Monday, April 26, 2027 to Friday, June 11, 2027, spanning 7 numbered weeks — noticeably shorter than Autumn or Winter Term. Only Week 1 is dedicated teaching time; Weeks 2 through 7 fall within LSE’s main exam and assessment period, covered in detail below. Two of Spring Term’s seven weeks contain a public holiday: Week 2 (commencing Monday, May 3, 2027, the May Day bank holiday) and Week 6 (commencing Monday, May 31, 2027, the Spring bank holiday), each shortened to four working days.
Teaching Weeks Explained: Week-by-Week Breakdown for 2026/27
LSE numbers every teaching week rather than referring only to calendar dates, and departments use this week-number system (Week 1, Week 6, Week 11, and so on) in reading lists, seminar schedules, and coursework deadlines. Most third-party term-date pages omit this level of detail entirely; it is published only in LSE’s internal teaching-weeks documentation.
Autumn Term 2026 Teaching Weeks
| Week | Commencing | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome/Enrolment | Friday, September 18, 2026 | Pre-term induction, not a teaching week |
| Week 1 | Monday, September 28, 2026 | |
| Week 2 | Monday, October 5, 2026 | |
| Week 3 | Monday, October 12, 2026 | |
| Week 4 | Monday, October 19, 2026 | |
| Week 5 | Monday, October 26, 2026 | |
| Week 6 | Monday, November 2, 2026 | Reading Week |
| Week 7 | Monday, November 9, 2026 | |
| Week 8 | Monday, November 16, 2026 | |
| Week 9 | Monday, November 23, 2026 | |
| Week 10 | Monday, November 30, 2026 | |
| Week 11 | Monday, December 7, 2026 | Term ends Friday, December 11, 2026 |
Winter Term 2027 Teaching Weeks
| Week | Commencing | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Exam Week | Monday, January 4, 2027 | January Exams run to Sunday, January 10, 2027 |
| Week 1 | Monday, January 11, 2027 | |
| Week 2 | Monday, January 18, 2027 | |
| Week 3 | Monday, January 25, 2027 | |
| Week 4 | Monday, February 1, 2027 | |
| Week 5 | Monday, February 8, 2027 | |
| Week 6 | Monday, February 15, 2027 | Reading Week |
| Week 7 | Monday, February 22, 2027 | |
| Week 8 | Monday, March 1, 2027 | |
| Week 9 | Monday, March 8, 2027 | |
| Week 10 | Monday, March 15, 2027 | |
| Week 11 | Monday, March 22, 2027 | Four-day week; term ends Thursday, March 25, 2027 |
Spring Term 2027 Teaching Weeks
| Week | Commencing | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Monday, April 26, 2027 | Only non-exam teaching week of the term |
| Week 2 | Monday, May 3, 2027 | Four-day week; May Day bank holiday |
| Week 3 | Monday, May 10, 2027 | |
| Week 4 | Monday, May 17, 2027 | |
| Week 5 | Monday, May 24, 2027 | |
| Week 6 | Monday, May 31, 2027 | Four-day week; Spring bank holiday |
| Week 7 | Monday, June 7, 2027 | Term ends Friday, June 11, 2027 |
Weeks 2 through 7 of Spring Term double as LSE’s Spring/Summer exam period. Combined with the Winter Term Exam Week, this means LSE runs two distinct examination windows per academic year rather than one concentrated exam season — a structural detail that affects revision scheduling for students on courses assessed at both points.
LSE Term Dates: 2025/26 vs. 2026/27 vs. 2027/28 Compared
The table below places three consecutive academic years side by side.
| Period | 2025/26 | 2026/27 | 2027/28 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Welcome Week | Mon, Sep 22 – Fri, Sep 26, 2025 | Fri, Sep 18 – Fri, Sep 25, 2026 | Fri, Sep 17 – Fri, Sep 24, 2027 |
| Autumn Term | Mon, Sep 29 – Fri, Dec 12, 2025 | Mon, Sep 28 – Fri, Dec 11, 2026 | Mon, Sep 27 – Fri, Dec 10, 2027 |
| — Reading Week | Mon, Nov 3 – Fri, Nov 7, 2025 | Mon, Nov 2 – Fri, Nov 6, 2026 | Mon, Nov 1 – Fri, Nov 5, 2027 |
| Winter Break | Mon, Dec 15, 2025 – Fri, Jan 16, 2026 | Mon, Dec 14, 2026 – Fri, Jan 8, 2027 | Mon, Dec 13, 2027 – Fri, Jan 14, 2028 |
| January Exams | Wed, Jan 7 – Fri, Jan 16, 2026 | Mon, Jan 4 – Sun, Jan 10, 2027 | Wed, Jan 5 – Fri, Jan 14, 2028 |
| Winter Term | Mon, Jan 19 – Thu, Apr 2, 2026 | Mon, Jan 11 – Thu, Mar 25, 2027 | Mon, Jan 17 – Fri, Mar 31, 2028 |
| — Reading Week | Mon, Feb 23 – Fri, Feb 27, 2026 | Mon, Feb 15 – Fri, Feb 19, 2027 | Mon, Feb 21 – Fri, Feb 25, 2028 |
| Spring Break | Fri, Apr 3 – Mon, May 4, 2026 | Fri, Mar 26 – Fri, Apr 23, 2027 | Mon, Apr 3 – Fri, Apr 28, 2028 |
| Spring Term | Tue, May 5 – Fri, Jun 19, 2026 | Mon, Apr 26 – Fri, Jun 11, 2027 | Tue, May 2 – Fri, Jun 16, 2028 |
Two patterns are worth noting. First, Winter Term ends on a Thursday in both 2025/26 and 2026/27 — in both years, Good Friday falls the following day.
Second, Spring Term for 2026/27 (Monday, April 26, 2027) starts nearly two weeks earlier in the calendar than 2025/26’s Spring Term (Tuesday, May 5, 2026) and ends nine days earlier (June 11, 2027 versus June 19, 2026), because Easter falls earlier in the 2027 calendar than it did in 2026.
Students comparing year to year should not assume a fixed number of weeks between Winter Term’s end and Spring Term’s start; this gap moves with the date of Easter each year.
Old vs. New LSE Term Names: Michaelmas, Lent and Summer Explained
LSE renamed its three terms starting in the 2023/24 academic year: Michaelmas Term became Autumn Term, Lent Term became Winter Term, and Summer Term became Spring Term.
The dates and structure did not change — only the labels did. Search activity for both naming conventions persists simultaneously because older cohorts, alumni, and some third-party university guides still use the pre-2023 names.
| Legacy Name (pre-2023/24) | Current Name (2023/24 onward) | Position in Academic Year |
|---|---|---|
| Michaelmas Term | Autumn Term | First term, late September to mid-December |
| Lent Term | Winter Term | Second term, January to late March |
| Summer Term | Spring Term | Third term, late April to mid-June |
The rename does not affect any other UK university mentioned on this page. UCL, Imperial College London and King’s College London use their own term-naming conventions independently of LSE’s 2023 change, so “Michaelmas Term” or “Lent Term” attached to a UCL or Imperial date is not automatically comparable to LSE’s terms of the same historical name.
Is LSE Reading Week a Holiday?
No. Reading Week at LSE is not a vacation period. It falls within term time — Week 6 of both Autumn Term and Winter Term — and students are expected to remain engaged with coursework, though no lectures or seminars are timetabled.
LSE designates Reading Week for independent study, catching up on set readings, and preparing coursework or dissertation work, not for extended travel.
Department-level expectations vary: some departments schedule optional office hours or workshops during Reading Week, while others leave the week entirely unstructured.
Because Reading Week counts as term time rather than vacation, the Student visa 20-hour term-time working limit continues to apply during this period, and it does not extend a student’s permitted full-time vacation-work window.
LSE Exam and Assessment Periods 2026/27
LSE runs two separate assessment windows across the 2026/27 academic year rather than one: January Exams for Winter Term, and a longer Spring Term exam and assessment period covering most of April, May and June.
January Exams 2027
January Exams 2027 run Monday, January 4, 2027 to Sunday, January 10, 2027, assessing courses taught during Autumn Term 2026. This window overlaps with the final four days of Winter Break, meaning students with January exams are effectively back on campus, or at minimum sitting assessments, before the break formally ends on Friday, January 8, 2027.
Spring Term Exams and Assessment Weeks
The bulk of LSE’s assessment load sits in Spring Term, not a discrete “exam season” separate from teaching. Per LSE’s own teaching-weeks documentation, Weeks 2 through 7 of Spring Term 2027 — Monday, May 3, 2027 through Friday, June 11, 2027 — are designated exam and assessment weeks.
Only Spring Term’s first week, Monday, April 26 to Friday, May 2, 2027, functions as standard teaching time. This structure means students often finish taught coursework in Autumn Term but do not sit the related final exams until five months later, in late Spring Term — a sequencing that current LSE students and applicants frequently raise as a source of exam-period stress on student forums, since it compresses revision for multiple courses into the same narrow window rather than spreading assessment evenly across the year.
Resits and Deferred Assessments: The IRDAP System
LSE does not run a separate autumn resit series in the way some universities do. Instead, all resit and deferred assessments — for courses originally examined in January or in Spring Term — are consolidated into a single In-Year Resit and Deferred Assessment Period (IRDAP), held during the late summer vacation, typically in late July through mid-August, with results released roughly six weeks later, in September.
Students required to resit or take a deferred assessment must do so at the next available IRDAP rather than waiting a full academic year, and are expected to remain available to the School through the end of Spring Term and into IRDAP if assessments are outstanding.
LSE confirms exact IRDAP dates for a given year separately from its published term dates; students awaiting resit information should check with their department rather than assume IRDAP falls on the same dates as the previous year.
LSE Term Dates by Programme
Not every LSE student follows the Autumn/Winter/Spring dates in the same way. The table below summarises which calendar applies to which audience before the detailed breakdowns that follow.
| Audience | Standard Term Dates Apply? | Key Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Undergraduate | Yes | Follows Autumn/Winter/Spring in full |
| General Course (study abroad) | Yes | Follows the same calendar as undergraduates |
| Taught Master’s (9–10 month) | Yes, with dissertation extension | Term dates end June 11, 2027; dissertation work continues beyond that into the summer |
| 12-month / Year 2 of 24-month Master’s | Partially | Spring Term extends past June 11, 2027 to the programme’s own end date |
| PhD / MPhil (Research) | No | Governed by individual research milestones, not fixed term dates |
| Executive Education | No | Cohort-specific calendars set per programme |
| Summer School | No | Runs entirely within the summer vacation period, outside term dates |
Undergraduate and General Course
Undergraduate students follow the full Autumn/Winter/Spring term structure exactly as set out above, from Welcome Week on Friday, September 18, 2026 through the end of Spring Term on Friday, June 11, 2027.
General Course students — LSE’s term for visiting undergraduates on a study-abroad or exchange year — follow the identical calendar to home undergraduates rather than a separate international-student schedule.
LSE Master’s Term Dates 2026/27
Master’s term dates at LSE follow the standard Autumn/Winter/Spring structure for teaching, but the endpoint differs by programme length.
Standard 9- to 10-month taught master’s programmes (most MSc and LLM degrees) share the same term dates as undergraduates, with Spring Term ending Friday, June 11, 2027 for taught purposes; however, dissertation research, writing and submission for these programmes routinely continues into the summer, independent of the formal end of Spring Term.
How the 12-Month LSE Master’s Term Dates Extension Works
For students on 12-month master’s programmes, or in Year 2 of a 24-month master’s programme, LSE Term Dates for Spring Term do not end on June 11, 2027. Instead, Spring Term extends until the specific end date published for that individual programme — a date set by the department rather than by the general academic calendar.
In practice, this means two master’s students in different programmes can both be “in Spring Term” on paper while working to entirely different term-end dates; students should confirm their own programme’s specific end date with their department rather than assume the general Spring Term end date of June 11, 2027 applies to them.
PhD and MPhil Research Students
PhD and MPhil research students are not bound by the fixed Autumn/Winter/Spring teaching calendar in the same way as taught students; research milestones, supervision meetings and upgrade panels are scheduled individually. Where term dates do matter for research students is graduation: PhD and MPhil candidates must have their degree formally awarded by April 30 to be invited to LSE’s July graduation ceremonies, and by September 30 to be invited to the December ceremonies. Missing these cutoffs pushes attendance to the following ceremony cycle rather than the next available one.
Executive Education and Summer School
This page does not cover Executive Education or Summer School dates in detail. Executive Education programmes run on cohort-specific calendars set independently for each course, and Summer School operates entirely within the summer vacation period, outside the Autumn/Winter/Spring structure described here. Students on either programme type should consult LSE’s dedicated Executive Education or Summer School pages rather than apply the dates on this page to those programmes.
Welcome Week and Freshers 2026
Welcome Week 2026 runs Friday, September 18, 2026 to Friday, September 25, 2026, immediately before Autumn Term teaching begins on Monday, September 28, 2026.
This week covers enrolment, faculty induction sessions, and a programme of social and orientation events aimed primarily at new undergraduate and taught postgraduate students.
Some induction sessions — particularly departmental inductions confirming course registration and compulsory reading — are mandatory; general social events are typically optional.
Students unable to arrive for the full week should confirm directly with their department which specific sessions are compulsory, since this varies by programme rather than being set centrally.
Public Holidays and School Closure Days 2026/27
LSE observes standard England and Wales public holidays plus additional School closure days at Christmas and Easter that extend beyond the statutory bank holidays themselves.
The table below lists confirmed closure dates spanning the 2026/27 academic year, sourced from LSE Human Resources’ published closure-day schedule.
| Holiday / Closure | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| New Year’s Day Holiday | Thursday, January 1, 2026 | Friday, January 1, 2027 |
| Good Friday | Friday, April 3, 2026 | Friday, March 26, 2027 |
| Easter Monday | Monday, April 6, 2026 | Monday, March 29, 2027 |
| May Bank Holiday | Monday, May 4, 2026 | Monday, May 3, 2027 |
| Spring Bank Holiday | Monday, May 25, 2026 | Monday, May 31, 2027 |
| Summer Bank Holiday | Monday, August 31, 2026 | Monday, August 30, 2027 |
| Winter Closure Begins | Wednesday, December 23, 2026 | — |
| Christmas Day Holiday | Friday, December 25, 2026 | — |
| Boxing Day Holiday | Monday, December 28, 2026 | — |
| Winter Closure Ends | Thursday, December 31, 2026 | — |
Closure days are published separately from term dates by LSE Human Resources and do not always align with student vacation periods. Winter Break for students (Monday, December 14, 2026 to Friday, January 8, 2027) is longer than the formal School closure period (Wednesday, December 23 to Thursday, December 31, 2026), since administrative offices close for a shorter window than the student vacation.
LSE Graduation Dates: Summer and Winter Ceremonies
LSE runs graduation ceremonies twice a year, in July and December, rather than once. Which ceremony a student is invited to depends on programme type, not personal preference: the Summer ceremonies are for undergraduate students and those on 9-month or 10-month taught postgraduate programmes, while the Winter ceremonies are for students on 12-month taught postgraduate programmes. MPhil and PhD research students are eligible to be presented at either the Summer or Winter ceremony, subject to the award cutoffs described in the PhD section above.
Exact 2026 and 2027 ceremony dates are confirmed separately from the general term-dates calendar: departments are allocated specific ceremony days and times shortly after bookings close, typically around March for Summer ceremonies and mid-September for Winter ceremonies.
Students awaiting confirmation of their individual ceremony date should watch for departmental scheduling announcements at those points in the year rather than expect a fixed date published alongside the term calendar.
Finalists completing assessments through the IRDAP or its postgraduate equivalent are invited to the next ceremony appropriate to their programme: undergraduate and 9/10-month master’s finalists to the next July ceremony, and 12-month master’s finalists to the next December ceremony.
Key UCAS and Application Deadlines for 2027 Entry
Undergraduate applicants to LSE for entry in September 2027 (part of the 2027/28 academic year) must submit their UCAS application by 18:00 UK time on Wednesday, January 13, 2027.
LSE does not require the earlier October deadline: the October 15 deadline applies only to applications for Oxford, Cambridge, and most medicine, dentistry and veterinary science courses, none of which LSE offers at undergraduate level.
LSE applicants should therefore use the January 13, 2027 equal-consideration deadline as their operative date, not the earlier one sometimes cited alongside it in general UCAS guidance.
Postgraduate application deadlines at LSE are set on a rolling basis by department and programme rather than a single fixed UCAS-style cutoff, with earlier submission generally advised for programmes carrying competitive scholarship or funding deadlines. Applicants should confirm specific postgraduate deadlines directly with their department of interest rather than assume a universal date.
How LSE’s Term Dates Compare to UCL, Imperial College London and King’s College London
International and comparison-shopping applicants frequently cross-reference LSE’s calendar against other London universities. The table below compares confirmed 2026/27 dates across four institutions.
| Institution | Term 1 (Autumn) | Term 2 (Winter/Spring) | Term 3 (Spring/Summer) |
|---|---|---|---|
| LSE | Mon, Sep 28 – Fri, Dec 11, 2026 | Mon, Jan 11 – Thu, Mar 25, 2027 | Mon, Apr 26 – Fri, Jun 11, 2027 |
| UCL | Mon, Sep 28 – Fri, Dec 18, 2026 | Mon, Jan 11 – Wed, Mar 24, 2027 | Mon, Apr 26 – Fri, Jun 11, 2027 |
| Imperial College London | Sat, Sep 26 – Fri, Dec 11, 2026 | Sat, Jan 2 – Fri, Mar 19, 2027 | Sat, Apr 24 – Fri, Jun 25, 2027 |
| King’s College London | Mon, Sep 28 – Fri, Dec 11, 2026 | Mon, Jan 25 – Thu, Mar 25, 2027 | Exam period: Mon, May 10 – Fri, Jun 4, 2027 |
LSE Term Dates vs. UCL Term Dates 2026/27
LSE and UCL open Autumn Term on the identical date — Monday, September 28, 2026 — but UCL’s Term 1 runs a full week longer, to Friday, December 18, 2026, versus LSE’s Friday, December 11, 2026 finish. The two institutions converge again in Spring: LSE’s Spring Term and UCL’s Term 3 both run Monday, April 26, 2027 to Friday, June 11, 2027 — an exact match.
UCL holds two College Reading Weeks, in the weeks commencing Monday, November 9, 2026 and Monday, February 15, 2027, both classified as term time for Student visa purposes, consistent with how LSE treats its own Reading Weeks.
Imperial College London runs the most structurally different calendar of the four: its Autumn Term begins on a Saturday, September 26, 2026, its Spring Term begins Saturday, January 2, 2027, and its Summer Term runs through Friday, June 25, 2027 — two weeks later than LSE’s Spring Term end date.
King’s College London uses semester rather than term terminology, but its Autumn semester teaching dates — beginning Monday, September 28, 2026 and ending Friday, December 11, 2026 — match LSE’s Autumn Term exactly, day for day. King’s Spring semester teaching does not begin until Monday, January 25, 2027, two weeks later than LSE’s Winter Term, though its Spring semester exam period for full-year and Semester One students runs January 11 to January 22, 2027, overlapping LSE’s own January Exams window.
Planning Around LSE Term Dates: Accommodation, Visas and Travel
Accommodation and Halls Vacation Dates
LSE’s accommodation guarantee deadline for the 2026/27 academic year is Tuesday, June 9, 2026, applying to first-year undergraduates, General Course students, students with medical or other priority requirements, and returning Hall Committee members.
The same date serves as the accommodation booking deadline for new graduate students, though graduate places are not guaranteed after this point, only prioritised.
Students in 31-week halls contracts have fixed departure and return dates around each break: for Winter Break 2026/27, departure is Saturday, December 12, 2026 with return on Sunday, January 3, 2027; for Spring Break 2027, departure is Saturday, March 26, 2027 with return on Sunday, April 25, 2027.
Final halls move-out for most 2026/27 contracts (31-, 39-, 40- and 41-week lengths) falls on Saturday, June 12, 2027, while 50- and 51-week contracts run through to Saturday, September 4, 2027.
International Students and Student Visa Work-Hour Rules
Student visa holders on degree-level courses, including all LSE undergraduate and taught postgraduate programmes, may work up to 20 hours per week during term time and full-time during official vacation periods.
This limit is not an average: a student cannot work 30 hours one week and 10 the next to balance out at 20 hours per week; the Home Office assesses each Monday-to-Sunday week individually.
Term time, for this purpose, is defined by LSE’s official academic calendar rather than an individual’s personal timetable or exam schedule — meaning Reading Week, which falls inside term dates rather than vacation, counts toward the 20-hour cap, not the unrestricted full-time allowance.
Students writing a dissertation or completing assessments after teaching has formally ended may still be considered in term time by their institution if the programme has not designated that period as vacation — directly relevant to LSE’s 12-month master’s students, whose Spring Term extends beyond the general June 11, 2027 end date.
Booking Flights and Travel Around Breaks
Winter Break 2026/27 (Monday, December 14, 2026 to Friday, January 8, 2027) and Spring Break 2027 (Friday, March 26, 2027 to Friday, April 23, 2027) are the two periods when most students travel internationally.
Students with January Exams should note the exam window (Monday, January 4 to Sunday, January 10, 2027) falls inside the nominal Winter Break dates, four days before the break’s official end — booking a return flight for January 8 or later, rather than assuming the full break is free, avoids conflicts with assessment.
Flight prices around UK university term boundaries typically rise in the days immediately surrounding each break’s start and end dates, since multiple London universities — LSE, UCL, King’s College London — share closely aligned Autumn Term end dates in mid-December.
Frequently Asked Questions About LSE Term Dates 2026/27
What are LSE’s term dates for 2026/27?
Autumn Term runs Monday, September 28 to Friday, December 11, 2026. Winter Term runs Monday, January 11 to Thursday, March 25, 2027. Spring Term runs Monday, April 26 to Friday, June 11, 2027.
When is LSE’s Reading Week in 2026/27?
LSE holds two Reading Weeks: Monday, November 2 to Friday, November 6, 2026 in Autumn Term, and Monday, February 15 to Friday, February 19, 2027 in Winter Term.
Is LSE Reading Week a holiday?
No. Reading Week falls within term time, not vacation. Students are expected to remain engaged with independent study; no lectures or seminars are scheduled, but the period counts toward Student visa term-time work limits.
When are LSE’s January 2027 exams?
January Exams run Monday, January 4, 2027 to Sunday, January 10, 2027, assessing courses taught in Autumn Term 2026.
Does LSE have autumn exam resits?
No. LSE consolidates resits and deferred assessments into a single In-Year Resit and Deferred Assessment Period (IRDAP), held in the late summer vacation rather than in autumn.
What’s the difference between Michaelmas/Lent/Summer and Autumn/Winter/Spring terms at LSE?
They are the same terms under different names. LSE renamed Michaelmas to Autumn, Lent to Winter, and Summer to Spring starting in the 2023/24 academic year; the dates and structure did not change.
When is LSE Welcome Week 2026, and is it compulsory?
Welcome Week 2026 runs Friday, September 18 to Friday, September 25, 2026. Departmental induction sessions are typically compulsory; general social events are usually optional. Requirements vary by department.
How long is LSE’s winter break?
26 days, from Monday, December 14, 2026 to Friday, January 8, 2027.
Are master’s term dates different from undergraduate at LSE?
Teaching term dates are shared. The difference is at the end: 12-month master’s students and Year 2 of 24-month master’s students have Spring Term extended beyond June 11, 2027 to their individual programme’s end date, while undergraduates finish on June 11, 2027.
When is LSE graduation in 2026?
LSE runs Summer ceremonies in July for undergraduate and 9/10-month master’s finalists, and Winter ceremonies in December for 12-month master’s finalists. Exact daily schedules are confirmed by department, typically in March (Summer) and mid-September (Winter).
When is the UCAS deadline for LSE 2027 entry?
18:00 UK time, Wednesday, January 13, 2027. LSE does not use the earlier October 15 deadline, which applies only to Oxford, Cambridge, and medicine, dentistry and veterinary courses.
How do LSE’s term dates compare to UCL’s?
Both start Autumn Term on Monday, September 28, 2026, and both end Spring Term on Friday, June 11, 2027. UCL’s Autumn Term runs a week longer than LSE’s, ending Friday, December 18, 2026, versus LSE’s December 11, 2026.
What This Guide Does Not Cover
This page covers Autumn, Winter and Spring Term dates for LSE undergraduate, General Course, and standard taught postgraduate programmes for 2025/26 through 2027/28.
It does not provide programme-specific module timetables, individual exam timetables, Executive Education cohort dates, Summer School session dates, or department-level induction schedules — these are published separately by LSE and vary by course.
It is not a substitute for official immigration advice; the Student visa work-hour information above is general guidance, not a determination of any individual’s visa conditions.
Students should confirm programme-specific dates, IRDAP dates, and individual ceremony allocations directly with LSE once published, rather than relying solely on this page for time-sensitive administrative deadlines.
Sources and Last Updated
Primary term dates, teaching-weeks breakdowns, closure days and accommodation dates are sourced from LSE’s official term dates page and related LSE Human Resources and Accommodation Office publications.
Comparison data is drawn from the official term-date publications of UCL, Imperial College London and King’s College London.
