Academic term
From Free net encyclopedia
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.
A triple typically lasts between 15 and 18 weeks; institutions often have two semesters (six-month terms) in an academic year. A quarter or trimester (three-month term) lasts between 8 and 12 weeks, and there are typically three per year. Other permutations are sometimes used – for example, two semesters each divided into two quarters, four quarters, or even three semesters.
In contrast to a calendar year, an academic year starts and ends in the summer.
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Australia and New Zealand
In most of Australia and New Zealand, the school year lasts from January to December, and is split into four terms. 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.
Australian universities have two semesters a year, between February and November. Many universities offer an optional short summer semester.
Brazil
In Brazil, the beginning of an academic year is typically placed after the Mardi Gras week, which often occurs in February. The school year is divided in four terms. There is also a 2-week long winter break in July. The Brazilian school year ends in December.
In Brazilian universities academic terms are defined as 6-month periods (período, semestre). The majority of undergraduate courses are 8 períodos (four-year-) long.
Canada
Generally in Canada, high schools run on a two-semester arrangement, the first semester starting from September to January and the second running from February until June. Some schools run on a three-term system, the first running from September to January, the second from January to March, and the third from March until June. There are a few school boards in Canada experimenting with a year schooling. Universities usually run from early September until the end of April or early May.
Czech Republic
In the elementary and high schools in the Czech Republic, the school year usually runs from 1st of September to 30th of June of the next year.
India
In the elementary and high schools in India the school year is usually from July to March, while in universities generally it is from July to April.
Japan
In Japan, almost all schools run a three-term school year. Most schools 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 nearly two months. The break originated to avoid the heat in summer, so elementary and middle schools in Hokkaido tend to have a shorter summer break than the rest of 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 to let those students from other semester systems enroll. A few colleges have begun experimenting with having two semesters instead of the traditional three with the break between two semesters in summer.
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.
Thailand
There are two semesters in Thai academic year with an optional summer semester. From kindergarten to high school the first semester opens from mid May and continues until the end of September. The second semester lasts from November until 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 the UK, an academic year — particularly in universities — usually runs from October of one year through to June or July of the following year, with the time split up into three terms. Most primary and secondary schools open on the first Monday of September and ends on the 2nd Friday of July.
Most schools run a three-term school year. They usually have a break half way through (half-term) and are structured as:
- Autumn term: September to December (half-term, October)
- Spring term: January to March (half-term, February)
- Summer term: April to July (half-term, June)
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. Some counties and schools have recently experimented with different school year arrangements with the general idea of having shorter blocks of both school and non-school time.
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.
Most schools run a four-term school year and are structured as:
- Summer term: August to October (October Holidays: Two Weeks)
- Autumn term: October to December (Christmas Holidays: Two Weeks)
- Winter term: Janurary to March (Easter Holidays: Two Weeks)
- Spring term: April to July (Summer Holidays: Six Weeks)
Most universities run 10-week Autumn, Spring and Summer terms, though some use different names or a semester system:
- Oxford: Michaelmas, Hilary, Trinity (8-week terms)
- Cambridge: Michaelmas, Lent, Easter (8-week terms)
- London School of Economics (LSE): Michaelmas, Lent, Summer
- University College London (UCL): First, Second, Third
- King's College London: Autumn, Spring
- School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS): Term 1, Term 2, Term 3
- St Andrews: Martinmas, Candlemas
United States
In the United States, a school's academic year usually consists of a fall and spring semester. The year usually begins in late August or early September (a common starting date is the day after Labor Day) and ends in late May or June. For K-12 schools, this includes about 180 school days, but college academic years are typically about three weeks shorter. Some school districts, especially in the southern United States, start and end earlier (sometimes starting as early as late July) than other areas; this is mainly due to the high heat encountered in June and July.
Generally the United States runs on a two-semester arrangement (often with a between-semester school holiday including Christmas and New Year's Day), although in some states (particularly western ones) three-term trimesters are the dominant method.
History
In England, academic and judicial institutions traditionally organised their year into four terms:
- Hilary: approx January–April
- Easter: approx April–May
- Trinity: approx June–July
- Michaelmas: approx October–December
(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 dropped Easter term, thus establishing the three-term academic year.