You said, we did: changes to the semester structure from 2026/27
Posted on Monday 4 May 2026
After introducing semesters in 2023, we wanted to check they were working as well as intended. An extensive consultation was carried out, including a staff and student survey with over 500 responses and meetings with academic departments and the Students’ Union.
The review indicated there are a few problems with current arrangements, namely:
- it is hard to maintain engagement with your studies during the lengthy period between the end of teaching in semester 1 and the start of semester 2 in December and January
- scheduling problems with undergraduate summer exam resits can leave insufficient time for marking and notification of results before the start of the following academic year, leading to uncertainty for students
Therefore, after listening to your feedback, changes to semesters from 2026/27 will focus on reducing the length of the winter break and fixing the Late Summer Assessment Period timeline.
Key changes from 2026/27:
- Winter vacation will be one week shorter
- The summer exam resit period will begin one week earlier during Weeks 9 and 10 of the summer semester
The changes will reduce the amount of time you are ‘out of contact’ with your programme during December and January and will help you stay engaged with your studies. Your feedback stated it was important to still keep a three-week assessment period to allow exams to be spread out so this has been maintained. We have also kept Welcome Back Week, acknowledging the importance of designated time to reconnect before teaching begins in semester 2.
The changes to the summer assessment period will ensure you receive your results before the start of the following academic year.
The ultimate aim of the changes is to improve staff and student wellbeing, provide greater clarity, and allow additional time for marking and assessment boards.
For more, see our semesters information for students.