Let’s start with the holidays that are relevant regardless of your university: 15 March is a national holiday (1848 Revolution Memorial Day); 2 April is Good Friday and 5 April is Easter Monday. For those of you who have classes on a Saturday, don’t forget: 1 May is Labour Day which also means a guaranteed day off. Another annual holiday is Whit Monday on 24 May so prepare your schedule accordingly.
While it is very important to know in advance when you can expect a day off during your semester, you also need to focus on the dates of the academic periods that may differ from university to university. Here is a non-exhaustive list of university schedules that might help you to navigate during the upcoming semester.
At the Budapest Metropolitan University, the term period starts on 19 February and lasts until 22 May; pre-exams start on 19 April and the exam period is between 25 May and 26 June. Easter break will be between 12-16 April for communication, business and tourism programmes, while art students can have their break between 6-9 April.
The term period at the Eötvös Lóránd University starts on 8 February and lasts until 15 May. Spring break is between 31 March and 6 April and you will also have a day off on Pázmány Day on 7 May. The exam period starts on 17 May and lasts until 3 July.
At the Pázmány Péter Catholic University, the term period starts on 1 February and lasts until 15 May and the Spring break is between 29 March and 9 April. The exam period starts on 17 May and lasts until 26 June.
If you are a student at the University of Debrecen, your term period will start on 8 February and end on 21 May, while your exam period will be between 24 May and 9 July.
The Budapest University of Technology and Economics will also start their term period on 8 February but it ends on 14 May. The exam period is between 25 May and 21 June while Spring break is between 1 and 7 April.
The term period starts on 3 February at the University of Szeged and lasts until 16 May, Spring break is between 10-17 April and final exams will start on 18 May and conclude on 27 June.
Semmelweis University will start its term period on 15 February and ends it on 21 May while the exam period is between 25 May and 9 July. Spring break is between 2-5 April and you will have a day off on 30 June which is the Semmelweis Memorial Day.
At the University of Pécs, your term period will start on 1 February and will last until 8 May. Spring break in the city of Pécs will be between 12 and 16 April; while your exams will start on 10 May up until 18 June.
And last but not least, the term period at the University of Miskolc will be between 8 February and 14 May. 15 March, 2 and 5 April and 24 May all will be days off while the exam period starts on 17 May and lasts until 26 June.
As you can see, while in most cases these periods correlate among Hungarian Universities, there are always some differences you should take into account, so make sure you check out the relevant websites of your university!
Links and sources: METU – Tanév rendje, ELTE – Tanév rendje, PPKE – Tanév rendje, UNIDEB – Tanév rendje, BME – Tanév rendje, U-Szeged – Tanév rendje, Semmelweis – Tanév rendje, PTE – Tanév rendje, Uni-Miskolc – Tanév rendje