The standard academic calendar*, with effect from AY2020/21, will have the following structure:
- It consists of two semesters and a special term.
- Each regular semester includes 13 weeks of instruction and 2 weeks of end-of-semester examinations.
- There are two consecutive mini-semesters# in each regular semester. The first mini-semester (Mini-semester A) comprises 6 weeks of instruction, 1-week break (Reading Week) and 1 week of examinations. The second mini-semester (Mini-Semester B) comprises of 6 weeks of instruction, 1-week break (Reading Week) and 2 weeks of examinations (which is the same period as the end-of-semester examinations).
#Note: A mini-semester offers students an accelerated course schedule. A 4MC module can be taught during the mini-semester in a condensed format where the same amount of content is covered within a shorter time frame. Modules with less than 4 MCs may also be delivered over a mini-semester in a bite-size manner.
The mini-semesters are viewed as parts of the regular semester and the MCs of modules enrolled are counted altogether to form the semester workload. As such, the minimum and maximum MC workload limits for the semester remain unchanged. Students can mix and match mini-semester modules and regular semester modules in their preferred way for managing their workload intensity during the course of the semester. The Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) Declaration Exercise will be conducted at the end of the semester for all modules taken in the mini-semesters and regular semester together.
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- Special term takes place during the Semester 2 vacation period. It comprises of two parts, each of which lasts 6 weeks and is inclusive of an examination period.
The table below presents the basic chronological structure of the two main semesters, with 2 mini-semesters within each regular semester, in any academic year.
* The Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and the Faculty of Dentistry operate on a slightly different academic calendar structure.
1 Commences on first Monday of August each year.
2 For Semester 1 and mini-semester 1A, this starts in the week immediately following Orientation Week.
For Semester 2 and mini-semester 2A, this commences on the second Monday of January each year.
The University may start Semester 2 on the third Monday of January as deemed necessary in some years to maintain a 5-week vacation in December/January.
For mini-semester B, this starts in the week following examination week of preceding mini-semester A.
3 From Saturday to the following Sunday
4 From Saturday of the final week of the preceding Instructional Period to Friday of the following week.
5 For Regular Semester and mini-semester B, a 2-week period that starts from the Saturday immediately following Reading Week and ends on Saturday.
For mini-semester A,1-week period from Monday to Saturday.
6 For Semester 1, this is during December to early January.
For Semester 2, this goes from May through July. The 2-part Special Term takes place during this vacation period, with each part being 6 weeks long.
To view the current, future and previous NUS Academic Calendars, please click on the respective links below.