Key dates

Australian and New Zealand citizens, Australian permanent residents or permanent humanitarian visa holders are strongly encouraged to apply for admission through the online application portal no later than two weeks before the first week of the study for the course and intake (teaching period) being applied for.  This will allow enough time for your application to be processed. 

International students are encouraged to apply through the online application portal at least two months before the start of semester. This ensures there is sufficient time to process the application and in turn organise items like a student visa, accommodation and travel to Australia.

You can apply for a higher degree by research directly to the University of Canberra at any time through the HDR application portal.

Universities differ from secondary school and college – and from each other – in how they structure their academic year and calendar.

At university, the year is broken into different parts. There are teaching periods – the time when classes take place – and non-teaching periods, when you’ll get a break. It’s important to know how UC’s academic year works, so you can understand when and how your units are offered and plan your year.

The UC academic calendar includes four standard teaching periods:

• Semester 1 – which runs from February to May
• Semester 2 – which runs from August to November
• Winter Term – a shorter intensive term which runs from June to July
• Summer Semester – a shorter intensive semester which runs from December to January.

Semester 1 and Semester 2 are compulsory teaching periods, while Winter Term and Summer Semester are optional. It’s worth noting that not all units are offered across all four teaching periods. We also offer several additional teaching periods that are specific to a course or unit. 

Each teaching period includes the following:

• Orientation – the period before the start of semester where you can get to know UC
• Census date – the date, a few weeks into the start of a teaching period, when you become financially accountable for a unit. After this date, you can’t add a new unit, withdraw from a unit without incurring a fee, or complete certain tasks relating to your fees such as submitting HELP-loan forms
• Examination period – during this time exams are scheduled and there are no classes.

Semester 1, Semester 2 and Summer Semester also include a period where classes don’t run for a short time. This is known as a ‘mid-semester break’ or ‘teaching period break’. 

Many of the pathways programs at University of Canberra College run multiple times throughout the year.

This gives you the opportunity to enrol in and complete the program before the start of the next UC teaching period.