Entering term dates – undergraduate courses only

You should ensure that term dates in CMS reflect the term date advice in this guide. Do not enter term dates that overlap in the same academic year.

Example 1

A student begins a 2.5-year degree programme with a shortened first academic year.

The student’s study pattern is:

Year 1 – January to July
Year 2 – September to July
Year 3 – September to July

CMS must show their study pattern as:

Year 1 – January to December
Year 2 – January to December
Year 3 – January to July

Example 2

A student begins a shortened foundation year before progressing onto the chosen degree pathway.

The student’s study pattern is:

Year 1 – September to December
Year 2 – January to December
Year 3 – January to December
Year 4 – January to December

CMS must show their study pattern as:

Year 1 – September to July
Year 2 – September to July
Year 3 – September to July
Year 4 – September to December

Where the final academic year is less than 15 weeks, you cannot receive more than £4,500 in tuition fee loan or grant. This fee reflects the shortened academic year.

For full-time courses, you should space the term dates throughout the academic year. This guarantees that students are paid at regular intervals, while still respecting the liability period restrictions. It also means that the term lengths reflect the teaching the students receive, though we appreciate this may not align with your true academic schedule.

The Welsh Government lets students on a compressed or shortened academic year access the next year’s support from the point the next year of study begins.

Example 1

February start, compressed first year, annual tuition charge £8,000.

Liability point 1 (4 February):

• you confirm the student’s attendance
• we pay you £2,000 fee loan or grant in February

Liability point 2 (22 April):

• you confirm the student’s attendance
• we pay you £2,000 fee loan or grant in May

Liability point 3 (5 July):

• you confirm the student’s attendance
• we pay you £4,000 fee loan or grant paid in October

The student begins the second year of the course in September. They will have access to 100% of the tuition fee and maintenance support from the start of the academic year (September).