Postgraduate vacations and term dates

Please note that the standard published term dates are only applicable to undergraduate students.

Postgraduate students, including those studying an MPhil, are not entitled to the standard published vacations. Their vacation entitlement is outlined below. 

• Please note the following information does not apply to students studying on a PGCE or a SCITT teaching programme, who are not entitled to holiday provision outlined below.  

Postgraduate taught students

All postgraduate taught students studying a Masters level qualification are entitled to the standard three-week Christmas vacation and to a two-week Easter vacation encompassing the Easter bank holidays and University closure days. 

Postgraduate taught students on a 16-month programme starting in January (or the 28-month ‘with industry’ variant) are also entitled to the standard summer vacation period in the first year of their programme of study. 

Postgraduate taught students on a 12-month programme, regardless of whether their programme started in January, April or September, are not entitled to a summer vacation. 

Dates for academic year 2024/25

• Christmas vacation: Monday 16 December 2024 to Sunday 5 January 2025
• Easter postgraduate two-week vacation: Monday 14 April 2025 to Sunday 27 April 2025
• Summer vacation*: Monday 8 June 2025 to Sunday 21 September 2025

*Summer vacation only applies to students who started a 16-month postgraduate programme in January, or started a 28-month postgraduate ‘With Industry’ programme in January and are in their first year of study.

Postgraduate research students (including MPhil)

Postgraduate research students (including those on an MPhil programme) are not subject to the standard term dates or holidays and are in ‘term--time’ for the duration of study. The period between submission of thesis and award is still considered to be term-time.

Research students do not have any designated vacation periods, but in each calendar year are entitled to request normally up to a maximum of 27 days annual leave during which full-time work is permitted.