The structure of the school year is different from the university. Instead of quarters in higher and secondary specialized institutions, the educational process is divided into semesters.
Exams after each semester
Semester is a word of French origin. "Semestre" in translation means "six months" or "six-month". However, this word also has Latin roots (six and mensis mean six and a month). And yet, a semester is not six months, although half the academic year in universities.
So, how many months is a semester? Perhaps five. The academic year is divided into two semesters, each of which consists of 16-18 weeks. They are devoted to study: lectures, seminars, colloquiums, practical exercises ... And they must end with exams.
There is another summer semester. It can be labor or vacation and, as a rule, lasts two months.
What is the semester
How many months is the fall semester? In Russia and other
CIS countries, it opens the school year and begins in September. Usually at the beginning of any school year, teachers give students lectures. Over time, seminars, laboratory work and practical exercises are added to the lectures. Throughout the academic half-year, students write essays and make presentations at scientific conferences. In December, as a rule, a test session takes place, immediately after it - an examination session. The latter includes 4-5 exams in the main disciplines that were taught in this semester. After the academic half-year, students are provided with vacations, usually for two weeks.
Spring term - how many months?
The beginning of the spring semester falls on February and ends in May – June, again with the test and examination sessions. Writing and defense of term papers in specific academic disciplines is also practiced.
Higher education institutions have a four- or five-year cycle of study, including 8 or 10 semesters.
During the first semester, students receive scholarships, in the second it depends on how who passed the session.
In other countries, a semester is how many months?
A semester remains a semester in all countries. For example, in most American universities, there are also two academic half-years (autumn and spring), each lasting about 14-15 weeks. At the request of students, you can take another optional summer semester, shortened, its duration is one and a half or two months. It consists mainly of additional, extracurricular activities.
Not all educational institutions practice the division of the school year into semesters. There are examples in the UK and the USA when the division of the school year occurs in
trimesters. This is not 16-18 weeks, like a semester. How much will it be? Each trimester has a duration of 10-12 weeks.
The difference between studying at foreign universities also lies in the fact that the autumn half of the year does not necessarily open the school year as in Russia. For many institutions, it does not matter when you start your studies - in the fall or spring semester.
So how long does a semester last? The answer will be concise: 16 - 18 weeks.