Michaelmas term is the first academic term

Academic term

An academic term is a division of an academic year, the time during which a school, college or university holds classes. These divisions may be called terms...

 of the academic years of the following British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 universities:

• University of Cambridge
  University of Cambridge
  The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
  
  
• University of Oxford
  University of Oxford
  The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
  
  
• University of St. Andrews
• Durham University
  Durham University
  The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...
  
  
• Swansea University
  Swansea University
  Swansea University is a university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. Swansea University was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it changed its name to the University of Wales Swansea following structural changes...
  
  
• King's College London
  King's College London
  King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
  
  
• University of Wales, Lampeter
  University of Wales, Lampeter
  University of Wales, Lampeter is a university in Lampeter, Wales. Founded in 1822 by royal charter, it is the oldest degree awarding institution in Wales and may be the third oldest in England and Wales after Oxford and Cambridge...
  
  
• Aberystwyth University
• University of Exeter
  University of Exeter
  The University of Exeter is a public university in South West England. It belongs to the 1994 Group, an association of 19 of the United Kingdom's smaller research-intensive universities....
  
  
• Lancaster University
  Lancaster University
  Lancaster University, officially The University of Lancaster, is a leading research-intensive British university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established by Royal Charter in 1964 and initially based in St Leonard's Gate until moving to a purpose-built 300 acre campus at...
  
  
• London School of Economics
  London School of Economics
  The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
  
  
• University of Chester
  University of Chester
  The University of Chester is a public research university located in Chester, United Kingdom. The University, based on a main campus in Chester and a smaller campus in Warrington, offers a range of foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate courses, as well as undertaking academic research.Chester...
  
  
• University of Kent
  University of Kent
  The University of Kent, previously the University of Kent at Canterbury, is a public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom...
  
  
• The Honorable Society of King's Inns
• Royal Holloway, University of London
  Royal Holloway, University of London
  Royal Holloway, University of London is a constituent college of the University of London. The college has three faculties, 18 academic departments, and about 8,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students from over 130 different countries...
  
  
• Heythrop College
  Heythrop College
  Heythrop College is the specialist philosophy and theology constituent college of the University of London situated in Kensington Square, Kensington, London. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in philosophy, theology and psychology, as well as research in related fields.It was founded...
  
  
• University of Manchester
  University of Manchester
  The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
  
  
• Trinity College, Dublin
  Trinity College, Dublin
  Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
  
  
• Canterbury Christ Church University
  Canterbury Christ Church University
  Canterbury Christ Church University is a university in Canterbury, Kent, England. Founded as a Church of England college for teaching training it has grown to full university status and will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2012. The focus of its work is in the education of people going into...
  
  
• Holy Family Academy

and is used unofficially in several other University of London colleges. It also used to be the third and final term at the University of Sydney

University of Sydney

The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...

 before it swapped over to the two semester system in 1989.

Michaelmas term derives its name from the Feast of St Michael and All Angels

Michaelmas

Michaelmas, the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel is a day in the Western Christian calendar which occurs on 29 September...

, which falls on 29 September. The term runs from September or October to Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 and is the only term name shared by Cambridge and Oxford.

The legal year

The term is also the name of the first of four terms into which the legal year

Legal year

In English law, the legal year is the calendar during which the judges sit in court. The year is divided into four terms:* Michaelmas term - from October to December* Hilary term - from January to April* Easter term - from April to May, and...

 is divided by the Courts of England and Wales

Courts of England and Wales

Her Majesty's Courts of Justice of England and Wales are the civil and criminal courts responsible for the administration of justice in England and Wales; they apply the law of England and Wales and are established under Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.The United Kingdom does not have...

. While the name is not used in the United States court systems, the United States Supreme Court nevertheless follows the custom by beginning its year-long term on the first Monday in October, a date which generally coincides with Michaelmas.

Schools

Schools in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 which use the name 'Michaelmas term' include:

• Abingdon School
  Abingdon School
  Abingdon School is a British day and boarding independent school for boys situated in Abingdon, Oxfordshire , previously known as Roysse's School. In 1998 a formal merger took place between Abingdon School and Josca's, a preparatory school four miles to the west at Frilford...
  
  
• Amesbury School
  Amesbury School
  Amesbury School is a co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils between the ages of 2+ to 13+ in Surrey, England. Founded in 1870, Amesbury is the oldest preparatory school in the Farnham/Hindhead/Haslemere area. The main building was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens as a...
  
  
• Bradfield College
  Bradfield College
  Bradfield College is a coeducational independent school located in the small village of Bradfield in the English county of Berkshire.The college was founded in 1850 by Thomas Stevens, Rector and Lord of the Manor of Bradfield...
  
  
• Bristol Cathedral Choir School
• Bromsgrove School
  Bromsgrove School
  Bromsgrove School, founded in 1553, is a co-educational independent school in the Worcestershire town of Bromsgrove, England. The school has a long history and many notable former pupils.-History:...
  
  
• Cambridge Arts and Sciences
• Claremont School, East Sussex
• Clifton College
  Clifton College
  Clifton College is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1862. In its early years it was notable for emphasising science in the curriculum, and for being less concerned with social elitism, e.g. by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated...
  
  
• Cokethorpe School
• Dean Close School
  Dean Close School
  Dean Close School is a co-educational independent school in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school is divided into pre-prep, preparatory and senior schools located on separate but adjacent sites outside Cheltenham town centre, occupying the largest private land area in the town...
  
  
• Christ's Hospital
  Christ's Hospital
  Christ's Hospital is an English coeducational independent day and boarding school with Royal Charter located in the Sussex countryside just south of Horsham in Horsham District, West Sussex, England...
  
  
• Dulwich College
  Dulwich College
  Dulwich College is an independent school for boys in Dulwich, southeast London, England. The college was founded in 1619 by Edward Alleyn, a successful Elizabethan actor, with the original purpose of educating 12 poor scholars as the foundation of "God's Gift". It currently has about 1,600 boys,...
  
  
• Eastbourne College
  Eastbourne College
  Eastbourne College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils aged 13–18, situated on the south coast of England, included in the Tatler list of top public schools. The College's current headmaster is Simon Davies. The College was founded by the Duke of Devonshire...
  
  
• Edenhurst Preparatory School, Newcastle-under-Lyme
• Epsom College
  Epsom College
  Epsom College is an independent co-educational public school in Epsom, Surrey, England, for pupils aged 13 to 18. Founded in 1853 to provide support for poor members of the medical profession such as pensioners and orphans , Epsom's long-standing association with medicine was estimated in 1980 as...
  
  
• Eton College
  Eton College
  Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
  
  
• Forest School
• Giggleswick School
  Giggleswick School
  Giggleswick School is an independent co-educational boarding school in Giggleswick, near Settle, North Yorkshire, England.- Early school :...
  
  
• Gresham's School
  Gresham's School
  Gresham’s School is an independent coeducational boarding school in Holt in North Norfolk, England, a member of the HMC.The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a free grammar school for forty boys, following King Henry VIII's dissolution of the Augustinian priory at Beeston Regis...
  
  
• Harvey Grammar School
• Ipswich School
  Ipswich School
  Ipswich School is a co-educational public school for girls and boys aged 3 to 18. Situated in Suffolk, England in the town of Ipswich, it was founded in its current form as The King's School, Ipswich by Thomas Wolsey in 1528....
  
  
• King's School, Chester
• King's School, Gloucester
• Lancaster Royal Grammar School
  Lancaster Royal Grammar School
  Lancaster Royal Grammar School is a voluntary aided, selective grammar school for boys in Lancaster, England. The school has been awarded specialist Technology College and Language College status. Old boys belong to The Old Lancastrians...
  
  
• Lancing College
  Lancing College
  Lancing College is a co-educational English independent school in the British public school tradition, founded in 1848 by Nathaniel Woodard. Woodard's aim was to provide education "based on sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly grounded in the Christian faith." Lancing was the first of a...
  
  
• Liverpool College
• Magdalen College School, Oxford
  Magdalen College School, Oxford
  Magdalen College School is an independent school for boys aged 7 to 18 and girls in the sixth form, located on The Plain in Oxford, England. It was founded as part of Magdalen College, Oxford by William Waynflete in 1480....
  
  
• Manchester Grammar School
  Manchester Grammar School
  The Manchester Grammar School is the largest independent day school for boys in the UK . It is based in Manchester, England...
  
  
• Marlborough College
  Marlborough College
  Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...
  
  
• Monmouth School
  Monmouth School
  Monmouth School is an HMC boys' boarding and day school in Monmouth, Monmouthshire in south east Wales. It was founded in 1614 by William Jones. It is run as a trust, the William Jones's Schools Foundation, by the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, one of the Livery Companies...
  
  
• New Hall School
  New Hall School
  New Hall is one of the oldest Catholic schools in England. It is located in the former Tudor Palace of Beaulieu in Essex.Today New Hall is a leading Catholic independent boarding & day school for boys and girls aged 3–18. Founded in 1642, New Hall School, Chelmsford, is the oldest Catholic school...
  
  
• Norwich School
• Oswestry School
  Oswestry School
  Oswestry School is a co-educational independent school, located in the town of Oswestry, Shropshire, England. Founded in 1407 by David Holbache and his wife Guinevere Holbache, it is the second oldest non-denominational school in England....
  
  
• Oundle School
  Oundle School
  Oundle School is a co-educational British public school located in the ancient market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire. The school has been maintained by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City of London since its foundation in 1556. Oundle has eight boys' houses, five girls' houses, a day...
  
  , Northamptonshire
  Northamptonshire
  Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
  
  
• Pangbourne College
  Pangbourne College
  Pangbourne College is a coeducational independent school located in the civil parish of Pangbourne, just South West of the village, in the English County of Berkshire....
  
  
• Pennine Camphill community
• Radley College
  Radley College
  Radley College , founded in 1847, is a British independent school for boys on the edge of the English village of Radley, near to the market town of Abingdon in Oxfordshire, and has become a well-established boarding school...
  
  
• Reading School
  Reading School
  Reading School is a state-funded, selective academy school for boys in the English town of Reading. It is notable for tracing its history back to the school of Reading Abbey, making it one of the oldest schools in England. There are no tuition fees for day pupils, and boarders only pay for food and...
  
  
• Repton School
  Repton School
  Repton School, founded in 1557, is a co-educational English independent school for both day and boarding pupils, in the British public school tradition, located in the village of Repton, in Derbyshire, in the Midlands area of England...
  
  
• Royal School, Armagh
• Royal Grammar School, Guildford
  Royal Grammar School, Guildford
  The Royal Grammar School is a selective English independent day school for boys in Guildford, Surrey. The school dates its founding to the death of Robert Beckingham in 1509 who left provision in his will to 'make a free scole at the Towne of Guldford'; in 1512 a governing body was set up to form...
  
  
• Royal Grammar School, Worcester
• Ruthin School
  Ruthin School
  Ruthin School is one of the oldest public schools in the United Kingdom. Located on the outskirts of Ruthin, the county town of Denbighshire in North Wales, the school is over seven hundred years old and has been co-educational since 1990.- Beginnings :...
  
  
• Rye St Antony School
  Rye St Antony School
  Rye St Antony School is an independent Roman Catholic boarding and day school for girls aged 3 to 18 in Pullens Lane, Headington, Oxford, England. It is commonly abbreviated and referred to by both pupils and staff as 'Rye'. Rye is unique as a girls’ independent catholic school founded by lay women...
  
  , Oxford
• St Ambrose College, Manchester
• St Bede's College, Manchester
  St Bede's College, Manchester
  St Bede's College, Manchester is an independent Roman Catholic day school situated on Alexandra Road South in the Whalley Range area of the city, and is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference....
  
  
• St Benedict's School
  St Benedict's School
  St Benedict's School is a co-educational independent Roman Catholic school situated in Ealing, West London. The school is part of Ealing Abbey and is governed by the Abbot and monks of Ealing. As the only day school of the English Houses of the English Benedictine Congregation, the school does not...
  
  
• St Dunstan's College
  St Dunstan's College
  St Dunstan's College is a co-educational independent school in London, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, and was an all-boys establishment until 1994...
  
  
• St. Edmund's College
  St. Edmund's College
  There are a number of colleges named after Saint Edmund. These include:*St Edmund's College, Cambridge, a constituent college of the University of Cambridge*St Edmund's College, Ware*St Edmund's College, Canberra*St. Edmund's College, Shillong...
  
  
• Sherborne School for Boys
• Shrewsbury School
  Shrewsbury School
  Shrewsbury School is a co-educational independent school for pupils aged 13 to 18, founded by Royal Charter in 1552. The present campus to which the school moved in 1882 is located on the banks of the River Severn in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England...
  
  
• Sedbergh School
  Sedbergh School
  Sedbergh School is a boarding school in Sedbergh, Cumbria, for boys and girls aged 13 to 18. Nestled in the Howgill Fells, it is known for sporting sides, such as its Rugby Union 1st XV.-Background:...
  
  
• Stonyhurst College
  Stonyhurst College
  Stonyhurst College is a Roman Catholic independent school, adhering to the Jesuit tradition. It is located on the Stonyhurst Estate near the village of Hurst Green in the Ribble Valley area of Lancashire, England, and occupies a Grade I listed building...
  
  
• Sutton Valence School
  Sutton Valence School
  Sutton Valence School is an English independent school near Maidstone in southeast England. It has about 520 pupils. It is a co-educational school with a boarding option . The three boarding houses are Westminster, St Margaret's and Sutton and, for those in the first and second form, Beresford...
  
  
• Terra Nova School
• The Prebendal School
• Tonbridge School
  Tonbridge School
  Tonbridge School is a British boys' independent school for both boarding and day pupils in Tonbridge, Kent, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judd . It is a member of the Eton Group, and has close links with the Worshipful Company of Skinners, one of the oldest London livery companies...
  
  
• Warwick School
  Warwick School
  Warwick School is an independent school with boarding facilities for boys in Warwick, England, and is reputed to be the third-oldest surviving school in the country after King's School, Canterbury and St Peter's School, York; and the oldest boy's school in England...
  
  
• Wellington College, Berkshire
  Wellington College, Berkshire
  -Former pupils:Notable former pupils include historian P. J. Marshall, architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, impressionist Rory Bremner, Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge, author Sebastian Faulks, language school pioneer John Haycraft, political journalist Robin Oakley, actor Sir Christopher...
  
  
• Wells Cathedral School
  Wells Cathedral School
  Wells Cathedral School is a co-educational independent school located in Wells, Somerset, England. The school is one of the five established musical schools for school-age children in the United Kingdom, along with Chetham's School of Music, the Yehudi Menuhin School, the Purcell School and St....
  
  
• Whitgift School
  Whitgift School
  Whitgift School is an independent day school educating approximately 1,400 boys aged 10 to 18 in South Croydon, London in a parkland site.- History and grounds :...
  
  
• William Hulme's Grammar School
  William Hulme's Grammar School
  William Hulme's Grammar School is an Academy in Whalley Range, Manchester, England.-History:WHGS was founded on 26 January 1887 as a grammar school. It ceased to be a direct grant school when the Labour government abolished the scheme, and was therefore forced to become private...
  
  
• Woodbridge School
  Woodbridge School
  Woodbridge School is an independent school in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, founded in 1577, for the poor of Woodbridge. It was later supported by the Seckford Scheme.Woodbridge School has been co-educational since 1975.-History:...
  
  
• Worksop College
  Worksop College
  Worksop College is a co-educational day and boarding school for boys and girls aged 13 to 18 in England. Worksop is split into eight houses - Talbot, Mason, Portland, Pelham and Shirley for boys and Gibbs, Derry and School House for girls.- Origins :...
  
  
• Yarm School
  Yarm School
  Yarm School is a fee-paying Public School situated within the market town of Yarm, North Yorkshire, England.-Situation:The senior school is situated in the Friarage buildings and grounds, on the River Tees, at the southern end of the Georgian market town of Yarm...
  
  

Schools in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 which use the name 'Michaelmas term' include:

• Thomas M. Cooley Law School
  Thomas M. Cooley Law School
  Thomas M. Cooley Law School is an American Bar Association accredited law school in the United States. Located in Michigan, its main campus is in Lansing, and its satellite campuses are in Ann Arbor, Auburn Hills, and Grand Rapids. Cooley plans on opening another satellite campus in Tampa Bay,...
  
  

See also

• Hilary term
  Hilary term
  Hilary Term is the second academic term of Oxford University's academic year. It runs from January to March and is so named because the feast day of St Hilary of Poitiers, 14 January, falls during this term...
  
  
• Lent term
  Lent term
  Lent term is the name of the spring academic term at the following British universities:*University of Cambridge*Kings College London*London School of Economics and Political Science*Exeter University*University of Lancaster...
  
  
• Summer term
  Summer term
  Summer term is the name of the summer academic term at many British schools and universities and elsewhere in the world.In the UK, 'Summer term' runs from the Easter holiday until the end of the academic year in June or July, and thus corresponds to the Easter term at Cambridge University, and...
  
  
• Trinity term
  Trinity term
  Trinity term is the name of the third and final term of Oxford University's and the University of Dublin's academic year. It runs from about mid April to about the end of June and is named after Trinity Sunday, which falls eight weeks after Easter, in May or June.At the University of Sydney, it was...
  
  
• Easter term
  Easter term
  Easter term is the name of the summer term at the University of Cambridge, the University of Wales, Lampeter, University of Durham, and formerly University of Newcastle upon Tyne , in the United Kingdom...
  
  
• Epiphany term
  Epiphany term
  Epiphany term is the second academic term of the University of Durham and formerly of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne . The term runs from January to March.-See also:*Michaelmas term...