Semester 1 2026 at the University of Melbourne runs from Monday 2 March to Sunday 31 May, and the census date for that semester falls on Tuesday 31 March. That single date, the census date, is the one most students search for in a panic, usually a week or two before it arrives. Missing it means you owe full fees for a subject even if you withdraw the next day.
This page lays out every principal date UniMelb has published for 2026, plus the 2027 dates that are already live on the university's own calendar. All figures below come directly from unimelb.edu.au, cross-checked against the university's current students portal, so you can plan a lease, a flight home, or a job around them without guessing.
Where UniMelb has not yet published a specific 2027 figure (census dates, for instance), this article says so rather than estimating. The university typically releases census dates for a given semester roughly a year in advance, so late 2026 is when 2027 census dates should appear.
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Quick facts: UniMelb key dates at a glance
| Event | Semester 1 2026 | Semester 2 2026 |
| Teaching period | 2 March to 31 May | 27 July to 25 October |
| Orientation | 23 to 27 February | 20 to 24 July |
| Census date | 31 March | 31 August |
| Last day to withdraw without fail | 8 May | 25 September |
| Mid-semester break | 3 to 12 April (Easter) | 28 September to 4 October |
| SWOT Vac (study week) | 1 to 5 June | 26 to 30 October |
| Exam period | 9 to 26 June | 2 to 20 November |
| Results released | 10 July | 4 December |
Source: University of Melbourne Key Dates (unimelb.edu.au/dates) and the current students key dates page (students.unimelb.edu.au), both accessed 15 September 2026.
Semester 1 2026 dates in full
Semester 1 teaching runs for 12 weeks, starting Monday 2 March and finishing Sunday 31 May 2026. Commencement orientation, the week aimed at new students starting their first semester at UniMelb, runs from Monday 23 February to Friday 27 February. If you are moving into student housing near the University of Melbourne for the first time, arriving a few days before orientation starts gives you time to sort a bank account, a SIM card, and your subject enrolment before the queues get long.
The Easter non-teaching period sits inside semester 1, running from Friday 3 April to Sunday 12 April 2026. It is not officially labelled a "mid-semester break" on the university calendar the way semester 2's is, but it functions the same way: a pause in the teaching weeks that most students use to catch up or travel. Study vacation, known on campus as SWOT Vac, runs from Monday 1 June to Friday 5 June, immediately before exams begin on Tuesday 9 June. Exams for semester 1 run through to Friday 26 June, and results are released Friday 10 July.
Semester 2 2026 dates in full
Semester 2 teaching begins Monday 27 July and runs to Sunday 25 October 2026, again across 12 teaching weeks. Mid-year orientation, for students starting in July or returning after a break, runs Monday 20 July to Friday 24 July. This is the busier of the two intakes for many international student cohorts, and it lines up with the semester structure explained for Australian universities if you are still working out how UniMelb's calendar compares to other institutions.
The formal mid-semester break for semester 2 runs from Monday 28 September to Sunday 4 October, a full week with no scheduled classes. SWOT Vac follows the teaching period from Monday 26 October to Friday 30 October, then exams run Monday 2 November to Friday 20 November. Results for semester 2 come out Friday 4 December, later than most students expect given how close it sits to the end of the calendar year.
Census dates and why they matter more than any other date on this list
The census date for semester 1 2026 is Tuesday 31 March. For semester 2 2026 it is Monday 31 August. These two dates are, practically, the most important on the entire UniMelb calendar, more consequential to your bank balance than orientation or even exam week.
Here is the mechanic: before census, you can drop a subject and your HECS-HELP liability or fee charge for it disappears, as though you never enrolled. After census, you are financially committed to that subject for the semester, full stop, regardless of whether you later withdraw. A "W" grade on your transcript from a late withdrawal does not touch your fee liability. For a full breakdown of what a census date actually does and how it interacts with government loans, see our guide on what a census date means at an Australian university, and if you are trying to work out whether your loan is HECS-HELP or FEE-HELP in the first place, this comparison covers the difference plainly.
The university also publishes a separate "last day to withdraw without academic fail" date: Friday 8 May for semester 1 and Friday 25 September for semester 2. That date is about your transcript, not your fees. Missing census costs money. Missing the withdrawal deadline costs you a fail grade instead of a withdrawal notation. They are different problems and students regularly confuse them.
Subject-level census dates can differ from the standard semester census date for short-form or intensive subjects, so always check your specific subject in the Current Students Key Dates portal on students.unimelb.edu.au rather than assuming the standard date applies.
Mid-semester breaks and what to actually do with them
Semester 1's Easter break (3 to 12 April 2026) and semester 2's mid-semester break (28 September to 4 October 2026) are both around a week long. Neither is long enough for an international trip home for most students, once you account for jet lag and reading week catch-up, but both are long enough to leave Melbourne for a few days without falling behind.
Domestic students often use the semester 2 break to visit family interstate. International students more commonly use it to catch up on assignments due right after the break, since several subjects schedule essays or reports for the first week back. If you are new to Melbourne and want somewhere quiet to work through the break rather than travel, our list of free study spaces around Australian campuses and the best cafes to study in near Melbourne both cover options that stay open during university-wide breaks, when libraries sometimes run reduced hours.
Exam periods and results release
Semester 1 exams run Tuesday 9 June to Friday 26 June 2026, an 18-day window in which your own exams could fall anywhere. Semester 2 exams run Monday 2 November to Friday 20 November. UniMelb does not publish individual exam timetables until closer to the period itself, typically a few weeks out, so do not book flights home for the summer break until your personal timetable is confirmed.
Results land later than exams end in both cases: 10 July for semester 1 (roughly two weeks after exams finish) and 4 December for semester 2 (about two weeks after that exam period too). If you are relying on a semester 1 result to confirm progression into a second-year subject, or a semester 2 result for a graduation application, build that gap into your planning. Our exam period survival guide for Australian universities has practical detail on managing the SWOT Vac to exam-day stretch specifically.
Orientation week: what it actually covers
UniMelb's orientation runs twice a year: commencement orientation (23 to 27 February 2026) for the bulk of new students starting in semester 1, and mid-year orientation (20 to 24 July 2026) for the smaller July intake. Orientation covers subject enrolment help, campus tours, library inductions, and, critically for anyone who has just landed, the practical logistics of settling into a new city. Our general guide to O-Week at Australian universities walks through what to prioritise if you can only make it to a handful of sessions.
If you have not locked in housing yet, orientation week is also the worst possible week to be sorting accommodation from scratch, since demand near campus peaks right before both intakes. Booking ahead of arrival, covered in our guide on how to book student housing before you land in Australia, avoids competing with a few thousand other students for the same short list of rooms in the same week.
What happens if you miss a key date
Missing census means paying for a subject you are not doing, full stop; there is no standard appeal process for simply forgetting, though UniMelb does run a "special circumstances" application for genuinely exceptional situations like serious illness, and it is assessed case by case, not guaranteed. Missing the withdrawal-without-fail deadline means a fail appears on your transcript instead of a withdrawal notation, which matters if you are applying for further study or a visa that reviews academic record. Missing an exam without prior approval typically means a zero for that assessment unless you lodge a special consideration application, usually within a tight window (often two business days) of the missed exam.
None of these are fixable after the fact by simply asking nicely. The dates are set by university policy, not by individual lecturers, so the fix is building your own calendar reminders around the university's official one well ahead of time.
Frequently asked questions
When does semester 1 start at the University of Melbourne in 2026?
Semester 1 2026 starts Monday 2 March and runs to Sunday 31 May, with orientation the week before, from 23 to 27 February.
When does semester 2 start at UniMelb in 2026?
Semester 2 2026 starts Monday 27 July and runs to Sunday 25 October, with mid-year orientation from 20 to 24 July.
What is the census date for UniMelb semester 1 2026?
Tuesday 31 March 2026. This is the last day you can withdraw from a subject without being charged for it.
What is the census date for UniMelb semester 2 2026?
Monday 31 August 2026.
Are University of Melbourne key dates for 2027 published yet?
Yes, partially. UniMelb has published semester 1 2027 (Monday 1 March to Sunday 30 May), semester 2 2027 (Monday 26 July to Sunday 24 October), exam periods, and results dates. Census dates for 2027 have not been published as of September 2026.
Does every subject at UniMelb follow the standard census date?
No. Some short-form, intensive, and summer or winter term subjects have their own census dates that differ from the standard semester dates. Always check the subject-specific date in the university's official key dates portal.
What is SWOT Vac?
SWOT Vac, short for study vacation, is the week between the end of teaching and the start of exams, used for revision with no scheduled classes. It runs 1 to 5 June for semester 1 2026 and 26 to 30 October for semester 2 2026.
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Conclusion
The two dates worth putting in your phone calendar today are the census dates: 31 March and 31 August 2026. Everything else on this page, from orientation to exam blocks, affects your workload and your travel plans, but census dates affect your bank account directly and cannot be walked back once they pass.
If you are still arranging where to live for either intake, treat orientation week as your latest sensible move-in target, not your earliest. Arriving a week or so before orientation gives you room to deal with enrolment, banking, and a SIM plan without also hunting for a room at the same time as thousands of other students. Our comparisons of university halls versus private PBSA and the best student accommodation options in Melbourne are a reasonable starting point if you have not settled on a building yet.
Check the university's own key dates page periodically rather than relying on any single article, including this one, since UniMelb does occasionally adjust non-teaching periods and subject-level dates after initial publication.