UCL Term Dates 2026-2027: Important Dates and Deadlines

UCL’s three teaching terms for 2026–2027 begin on Monday, 28 September 2026, Monday, 11 January 2027, and Monday, 26 April 2027.

The academic year is structured around a three-term calendar published by UCL Student Registry Services (SRS), with College Reading Weeks, bank holiday closures, and programme-specific exceptions operating alongside the main schedule.

This page covers the complete UCL academic calendar 2026–2027, including undergraduate and postgraduate term dates, MBBS and Pharmacy exceptions, Welcome Week and International Week arrival logistics, accommodation contract windows, Student Visa working-hour implications, and a multi-year comparison for forward planning.

UCL Term Dates 2026–2027 at a Glance

UCL operates on a three-term academic year. The table below presents the confirmed 2026–2027 term dates as published by UCL Student Registry Services.

Main Campus Term Dates 2026–27

The second term ends on Wednesday, 24 March 2027 — not the customary Friday — because Easter falls unusually early in 2027. Good Friday is 26 March 2027, which compresses the end of Spring term.

This is the most consequential scheduling anomaly of the 2026–2027 academic year and affects travel plans, accommodation check-outs, and dissertation calendars for students and staff alike.

College Reading Weeks 2026–27

UCL holds two College Reading Weeks per academic year. No timetabled lectures or seminars take place during these periods.

College Reading Weeks are not university holidays. They are designated periods within the teaching term for independent study, dissertation progression, and assessment preparation.

UCL advises students — particularly those enrolled on the UCL Preparatory Certificate (UPC) foundation programme — to remain in London during reading weeks and make use of library and study facilities rather than travelling abroad.

UCL Welcome Week and International Arrivals 2026

The UCL Moving In Weekend for 2026–2027 is Saturday, 26 September and Sunday, 27 September 2026. International students may arrive earlier, with International Week beginning Monday, 21 September 2026.

Welcome Week overlaps with the formal start of Term 1. Teaching for most undergraduate programmes begins in the first week of October rather than on 28 September, which is the administrative start of term.

Affiliate and study-abroad students should confirm their specific induction schedule with their host department, as these dates vary by programme.

Students should complete the online pre-arrival induction through the UCL Accommodation Portal before moving in. Accommodation Welcome Talks are held at individual halls, typically around 20 September, ahead of the main arrivals weekend.

UCL Bank Holidays and Closure Dates 2026–2027

UCL follows the standard England and Wales bank holiday schedule and supplements it with official College closure dates set by UCL itself. The university closes at 5:30pm on the final working day before a closure period and reopens at 9:00am on the first day back.

Christmas Closure 2026

UCL closes at 5:30pm on Wednesday, 23 December 2026 and reopens at 9:00am on Monday, 4 January 2027. During this period, administrative services are suspended, libraries operate on reduced or closed hours, and the UCL Student Hub is unavailable. UCL halls of residence remain accessible to residents throughout the Christmas closure.

Student Visa (formerly Tier 4) holders should note that working-hour restrictions remain at term-time levels — a maximum of 20 hours per week — during the Christmas closure, as this period falls within the academic term structure for most programmes.

Easter Closure 2027

Because Easter falls early in 2026–2027, the Easter bank holiday window is Friday, 26 March 2027 to Monday, 29 March 2027 (Good Friday and Easter Monday). UCL closes over this period. The proximity of the Easter closure to the end of Second Term — which concludes on Wednesday, 24 March 2027 — means there is effectively no buffer between the end of spring teaching and the bank holiday break. Students planning dissertation submissions or assessments in late March should account for this compressed window.

UK Bank Holidays Observed by UCL in 2026–2027

All bank holiday dates are subject to confirmation by the UK Government. UCL’s official language states that bank holidays “may be subject to change by government,” and the College closure dates derived from them adjust accordingly.

UCL Term Dates 2026–27 by Programme: Key Exceptions

UCL does not operate on a single universal academic calendar. Several faculties and programme types follow materially different term structures. The main SRS calendar applies to undergraduate students and most taught postgraduate programmes. The Institute of Education, UCL Medical School, and UCL School of Pharmacy each publish separate term dates.

Undergraduate Term Dates 2026–2027

Undergraduate teaching at UCL is concentrated in Terms 1 and 2. Term 3 is dedicated primarily to revision and formal examinations, with limited or no new timetabled teaching for most departments. The UCL ExtendED Learning programme, where confirmed for 2026–2027, operates as an optional enrichment window following the end of Term 3 in June 2027 and is not part of the standard teaching calendar.

UCL Masters and Taught Postgraduate Term Dates 2026–2027

Full-time taught Masters students at UCL follow a 45-week academic year that extends significantly beyond the end of Term 3. The third term ends on Friday, 11 June 2027 for main campus undergraduates, but Masters students are expected to continue dissertation preparation and submission through to September 2027.

Students on 10-month or 2-year taught Masters programmes should confirm specific study dates with their department, as schedules vary by programme structure. PGCE students are placed on school-based timetables that include external placement dates issued separately by their programme administrators. The standard UCL term dates do not govern PGCE placement periods.

Research students — those enrolled on MPhil, PhD, and EngD programmes — are required to maintain continuous attendance throughout the full academic year. Research students do not follow the teaching term calendar. Leave is agreed with supervisors in line with UCL staff holiday entitlements.

UCL Institute of Education (IOE) Term Dates 2026–2027

The UCL Institute of Education follows a school-year-aligned calendar that begins significantly earlier than the main UCL campus. IOE Initial Teacher Education students have historically started in early September, approximately four weeks before the main term start of 28 September 2026. UCL IOE issues its own calendar separately; students should contact the IOE Student Helpdesk for confirmed 2026–2027 dates.

UCL School of Pharmacy — MSc Clinical Pharmacy Term Dates 2026–2027

The MSc Clinical Pharmacy, International Practice and Policy programme follows a distinct Third Term schedule confirmed by UCL:

This extends the Third Term by approximately 13 weeks beyond the main campus end date of Friday, 11 June 2027. MSc Clinical Pharmacy students should not use the standard UCL academic calendar to plan their academic year — the Pharmacy-specific calendar is the operative schedule.

UCL Medical School MBBS Term Dates 2026–2027

UCL MBBS students follow a separate academic structure. Based on the officially published 2026–2027 MBBS timetable, Years 4 and 5 follow these dates:

MBBS students begin Term 1 on 1 September 2026 — nearly four weeks before the main UCL campus term start. Their term structure across all three terms differs from the standard SRS calendar in both start and end dates. MBBS Year 6 operates on a separate timetable; those students should refer to UCL Medical Sciences programme-specific documentation for their confirmed dates.

UCL Reading Week 2026–2027: What It Is and What It Is Not

UCL College Reading Weeks are not university holidays. They are non-teaching weeks embedded within the academic term in which no timetabled lectures, seminars, or classes are scheduled. The two reading weeks in 2026–2027 fall in the week commencing Monday, 9 November 2026 (Term 1) and the week commencing Monday, 15 February 2027 (Term 2).

Reading weeks are designed for independent academic work: catching up on module reading, advancing dissertation chapters, preparing for end-of-term assessments, and using library resources at lower pressure. UCL explicitly advises that reading weeks are not a holiday period and recommends students remain in London.

UCL reading weeks are not equivalent to school half-term holidays. Teaching pauses, but the academic year continues. Students on Student Visas should note that working-hour permissions remain at term-time levels — a maximum of 20 hours per week — during College Reading Weeks, as they fall within the term structure. The vacation rate (up to full-time hours, subject to individual visa conditions) does not apply.

UCL Term Dates and Accommodation: What Students Need to Know

UCL accommodation contracts are structured around term dates but are not identical to them. Undergraduate contracts typically run for 39 weeks; postgraduate and Masters contracts typically run for 51 weeks to align with the dissertation period extending through to September 2027.

The 51-week postgraduate contract reflects the reality of the 45-week taught Masters academic year, with additional buffer for dissertation submission in September 2027.

Postgraduate students who plan to leave halls before their contract end date should review UCL Accommodation’s early-release terms.

UCL halls of residence remain accessible to residents during university closure periods, including the Christmas closure (Wednesday, 23 December 2026 to Friday, 3 January 2027) and the Easter bank holiday window (Friday, 26 March to Monday, 29 March 2027). Administrative services, campus facilities, and libraries operate at reduced or modified capacity during these periods.

UCL Term Dates 2026–27 for International and Study Abroad Students

When to Arrive for the 2026–2027 Academic Year

International students should plan to arrive in London from Monday, 21 September 2026, when International Week begins. This dedicated pre-term programme is designed for non-UK students to attend orientation events, complete registration requirements, and meet other international students ahead of the main Welcome Week, which starts on Monday, 28 September 2026.

Students arriving from countries where the academic year begins in August should not arrive before their visa conditions permit.

UCL’s term start date of 28 September 2026 is later than the typical start dates at most US universities, which begin in late August or early September.

Exchange students from the US attending UCL for both the autumn and spring terms should plan full-year accommodation, as the Christmas gap between terms requires continuous housing.

UCL does not observe Thanksgiving. The three-term academic structure differs fundamentally from the US two-semester system. Students from semester-based systems typically complete one UCL term per semester, not one-for-one alignment.

Student Visa Working Hours and UCL Term Dates

Student Visa (formerly Tier 4) holders are subject to working-hour restrictions tied directly to UCL term dates. During term time — which includes College Reading Weeks and overlaps with some closure periods — the maximum permitted working hours are 20 hours per week. During official vacation periods between terms, full-time work may be permitted depending on individual visa conditions.

The term-time/vacation boundary is as follows for 2026–2027:

Masters students in the dissertation period after Third Term are treated as being in term time for Student Visa purposes, even after the main teaching calendar ends in June 2027.

The UCL Student Immigration Advice service is the authoritative reference for individual visa circumstances.

UCL Academic Calendar vs Other London Universities: 2026–2027 Comparison

UCL, King’s College London, LSE, and Imperial College London set their academic calendars independently. Differences of one to three weeks between institutions are common in any given year.

The confirmed dates above are for UCL only. Dates for LSE, King’s, and Imperial should be verified on each institution’s official academic calendar pages, as they publish independently and update on their own schedules.

Students enrolled across more than one London institution — including those on joint programmes or collaborative research arrangements — should treat each calendar as separate and authoritative.

UCL Academic Calendar: Multi-Year Overview

UCL publishes confirmed term dates up to three years in advance, giving students, research staff, and families a forward planning window.

The table below compares term boundaries across four academic years, including the confirmed 2026–2027 dates and projections for adjacent years.

The 2026–2027 academic year is notable for two departures from recent pattern: the First Term start date of 28 September 2026 is six days later than the 22 September start in 2025–2026, and the Second Term ends on a Wednesday rather than a Friday due to early Easter.

Research students and supervisors planning multi-year projects should note these shifts when scheduling milestone deadlines.

Frequently Asked Questions — UCL Term Dates 2026–2027

Official UCL Calendar Resources

The canonical UCL academic calendar for 2026–2027 is maintained by UCL Student Registry Services (SRS) and is available as a downloadable PDF at the official UCL SRS site.

The PDF presents the full month-by-month calendar grid, with term boundaries, College Reading Weeks, ExtendED Learning windows, bank holidays, and closure dates marked.

UCL updates this document when Government-confirmed bank holiday dates change.

For programme-specific dates — UCL IOE, MBBS, MSc Clinical Pharmacy, or PGCE placements — students should contact their departmental administrator or the relevant UCL student services helpdesk directly, as these calendars are not consolidated within the main SRS document.