Students home time schedule eg when can I book holidays!

[AlpineadventuresandCowbells]

DD should be starting uni this sept and I'm wondering whether they have half terms I assume they have no time for half term ? So Xmas ,Easter and main summer ? Is that correct ? I have tried to look at some of the unis she's looking at but I also thought I'd check here thank you

Impossible to say, unis vary widely. Yes they don’t have half term but some (not all) will have a reading week. However, that is not intended to be a time for them to take holiday but to use for study or catch catching up on assignments.

Time off over Christmas will also vary between unis and Easter holidays may very well not fall over Easter at all but will happen after a set number of weeks at uni which may or may not coincide with actual Easter.

In terms of holidays, are you sure that your DC will still want to go away with you? They may have plans with friends over summer or be doing an internship/working. They may also decide to stay in their uni city and only come home for a short time.

You need to look on the specific uni websites, and it may also depend to some extent on the course. Some have a ‘reading week’ mid term, others don’t. Afaik that’s meant for study not holiday. Some have semesters rather than three terms. Cambridge has short 10 week ‘full terms’ (no break) but within a longer ‘whole term’ - there may be a few supervisions or even mock exams scheduled in that time.

And re booking holidays - again depends on the course but they may have a lot of work (essays, consolidation, revision) - your DD may or may not want much holiday away from home. Summer is obviously a lot longer but ideally many students will be doing internships so they may not know their availability any time soon.

It varies by university and by course / department/ school within a university sometimes. My advice is to book nothing yet, they grow up fast at university, will make friends who they may prefer to go on holiday with or may want to work during the breaks. Your child is an adult, they may want to come but give them space to explore who they are without committing them to trips next year. None of ours have been away post university, it just isn’t a thing in many houses, more commonly my dc went with friends and we helped with money

You can look this up on her university website. They will have an academic dates calendar uploaded.

But equally, summer is almost 4 months long for most students - you can surely just go then?

After this summer no way

OK what university then and I’ll do the research and find the link with the relevant information for you.

Depending on the term dates (which you will need to check by university, as they do vary a lot) then June or September might be a good time to go away with her.

As others have said, "reading weeks" are quite common and I have known familes to take a holiday with their university aged kids during those weeks. But this will vary by course as well as University. At my son's university the humanities had reading weeks but the sciences didn't. My daughter did not have reading lists at all.

Bristol and bath

I wouldn’t book anything for reading week. They often have a lot of work to do, and depending on the course, some of it might be collaborative work.

Also things are course specific. Exams tend to be after the big holidays so your YP may need to study and they won’t really know how much until they start the course. ALS when the course ends fur the summer - my DDs last exam was in early June but she had loads of other non coursework commitments so I didn’t collect her until the very end of the month. We did manage to go away for a couple weeks at Easter but she had five weeks off so was able plenty to catch up on study. This summer she’s abroad on an internship for six weeks then has work for another internship once she returns so no family holidays this summer.

Bristol has half termly consolidation weeks which are like a half term. Whether she has these depends on her course but she’ll find out when she enrolls or she can email the uni and ask.

Here are the term dates - make sure you check the 2026/27 column https://www.bristol.ac.uk/university/dates/

Here is Bath they don’t seem to have them: https://www.bath.ac.uk/publications/academic-year-charts/attachments/academic-year-chart-2026-27-pdf.pdf

Reading weeks aren't even course-specific sometimes. One of my DDs optional modules was run by a different department. Her course had reading week, the optional module didn't!
Neither of mine would have been able to go away other than summer break. Coursework deadlines and exams always followed straight after Christmas and Easter breaks.
Also consider whether the student has a job in their uni town - it can be difficult to take leave, and jobs won't usually be held for them over uni holidays.

Will she want to go on holiday with you? She may have a job, project, internship, volunteering, holiday with friends etc she wants to go on. I think it's best to let her get settled and just book something nearer the time once she has found her feet and knows a bit more about what she may be doing/want to do.

@MyDarlingRose thank you so much. ..well Easter breaks are usually city breaks when it's not too hot so four nights isn't here or there I can't imagine she won't want too

Honestly - assume nothing about what your DD may or nay not want to do. University brings new friends, new ideas and in most cases a massive surge of independence.

Some unis have a reading week, some don’t. Even where they do not all courses have them or not necessarily at the same time.

I don’t see why your DD’s university holidays have any bearing on when you can take your holiday. Do you want her to cat or dog sit?

Ds1 had work to complete over the "holidays" so it isn't a full break. First year summers for both my children were free but then second year was summer internships and then graduate job for my eldest and hopefully graduate job for Ds2.

We did manage a small holiday in Easter holidays which were 5 weeks long for my two at different universities.

They may go away with friends, boyfriends, get work over the holidays in their university town/city and also may stay there too over summer. It is a very hard thing to pin down.

Reading week. The clue is in the name.

universities will have their academic dates on their websites. Usually most assignments will have been in by late June, July is free, there might be resits in August but let’s sssume that won’t be an issue. July is your safe month

Don’t be a dick, hmm? Clearly OP and her family are planning to go on holiday together, and you know that.

The very last thing I would have wanted to do when I was at university would have been to go on holiday with my mum. I had this whole other life by the time the first semester finished. I barely went home for 3 years and then moved in with a boyfriend at the end of it. I had/have a good relationship with my family but it was time for me to become an adult and I also needed to earn money.

Be prepared for her not wanting to leave uni friends or b/gfriends, jobs or having to study.

All uni’s should have their term dates listed online. Google the uni name and ‘term dates’ and you can review.
Reading weeks aren’t holidays, they should really be working. Vacation periods will be clearly marked.

I beg your pardon? How incredibly rude. That was not at all clear.

The dates will be on websites. If it’s a 2 semester system like Bristol then it’s semester 1 exams before Christmas. Easter is usually just before semester 2 exams.
Reading Weeks are not holidays. My dd got it in one subject but not the other but had essays due. If Oct reading week is Halloween then they often want to stay (parties).
Mine is at a 2 semester university and finished 6/5 and classes re start 21/9 so yes very long summers off can be normal.
Avoid booking over summer resit dates just in case.
Mine still wants to come on holiday with us we’ve found first week of January to be good when schools go back. She’s worked and travelled abroad for 3 months this summer then is coming away with us for a week in September before uni restarts. If you are stuck with school hols you may find it tricky to find a mutually convenient time except summer.
They may want to go on trips with clubs or societies or internships or Camp America etc. We tend to book much more last minute now once we know if she’s free. We also go away without her and her without us.

Totally agree. They grow up fast at uni. DD only came home for a few days at Christmas because they were celebrating New Year in their house. They will also want to go away with friends. My DC had summer jobs and never went on holiday. They just wanted to earn money. One famous phone call ran ‘do you mind if I don’t come home this summer. I have the chance to go to Kenya for three months’. It may be time to accept your DD is an adult and plan holidays with your partner or with friends of your own. She’s going to uni, not boarding school.