After extensive consultation with students and staff on the evolution and design, UNSW will introduce a new flexible semester Academic Calendar in 2028.
The new ‘flex-semester’ calendar is a semester structure for our undergraduate and the majority of postgraduate students alongside an aligned hexamester (six-term) structure to support the growth of additional professional education and lifelong learning opportunities.
The new calendar is designed for the future and aligns with the ambitions of our new UNSW Strategy: Progress for All to:
- deliver the best learning experiences and outcomes for all our students throughout their education journey
- ensure we continue to meet the changing demands of learners and industry now and into the future
- create an environment where our staff are supported to deliver their best work.
Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Attila Brungs said, “Throughout our 75-year history we’ve remained focused to ensure we meet the changing needs of our learners and industry. Our new flexible semester calendar will enable UNSW to better respond to an education landscape that has shifted dramatically over the last five to eight years and is continuously evolving. It will ensure we continue to support the requirements of the workforce with graduates who are adaptable, relevant and employable throughout their working lives, and do so in a way that meets the diversity of our student and alumni needs in these dynamic times – our aspiration, as always, is to provide the best student experience.”
The new ‘flex-semester’ calendar
The key features of the new calendar include:
- two standard 12-week teaching semesters
- a dedicated mid-semester break aligned with school holidays
- optional summer and winter terms for intensive or catch-up courses and accelerated study
- alignment with UNSW’s existing hexamester calendar (UNSW already offers some programs in a hexamester (six-term) model. The new calendar enables us to expand these offerings to suit specific student groups, typically postgraduate and professionals looking to upskill, and grow our lifelong learning offerings).
The new flex-semester calendar will:
- give students more time with a 12-week semester – this reflects the preference of undergraduate students, who have told us they want to engage more deeply with course material, and academics, who advised us that students would benefit from more time to develop thinking and approaches to help them navigate a world where new and emerging technologies like AI are rapidly changing the landscape
- provide flexibility and choice around study load, learning mode and balancing other life commitments such as paid work and extra curricula activities, and access to new learning opportunities across the academic year
- expand flexible learning options (online and in-person) for postgraduates, working professionals, lifelong learners and alumni, particularly by aligning with the current hexamester calendar
- provide academics with greater choice on course or curriculum design, allowing us to better accommodate the changing needs of our student cohorts
- provide more time for staff to balance a range of professional activities.
UNSW aims to introduce the new calendar in 2028.
The transition
The transition to a flex-semester calendar will integrate with initiatives already in planning or underway as part of UNSW Strategy: Progress for All, to deliver a more efficient, flexible and future-ready University.
Professor Brungs said, “The new flexible semester calendar continues the evolution of how we deliver education for our students, who we know have diverse needs and learn in different ways. It is one of a number of integrated changes to further our UNSW Strategy: Progress for All – it will assist UNSW to deliver better learning, teaching, engagement and research outcomes which will drive progress for all of society.”
The current program of strategic initiatives will help shape the details of our new calendar and position the University for a successful implementation in 2028.
In an email earlier today Professor Brungs and Professor Vlado Perkovic, Provost, thanked all students and staff for their support: “... we would like to thank all who have engaged in the process for your time, contributions and insights since we first initiated our calendar review. We have learnt a great deal and your input, alongside the context of our new strategic framework, has been critical in informing our decision.
“We will continue to consult with colleagues and stakeholders as we finalise the details of our new calendar over the coming months and move to implementation in 2028.”
Find more information and FAQs on the Academic Calendar website. You can also direct students to the Student Hub.
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