The changing of the seasons

In Great Britain, from four-year-olds being bundled off to pre-school to freshers embarking on their undergraduate studies, autumn has traditionally been the start of the academic year. But is there any reason why it should be?

Seemingly not. Plenty of universities — though primarily the newer ones — now offer dual — or even triple — entry start dates for undergraduate courses, and students seem to appreciate the benefits. But first, a bit of history: what prompted the original September/October start?

“It could well be that the start of the Michaelmas term reflected the needs of an agricultural economy”, says a professor of history at the University of Buckingham, which operates three undergraduate start dates and uses the traditional long summer break as a fourth term.

“Obviously, harvest was the time when demand for labour was greatest. Without modern machinery, it was essential to use every hand available to get the crops in before the weather broke. This explanation is open to the objection that those going up to Oxford or Cambridge would have been of a social status incompatible with manual labour of any kind. This may have been true from the late 17th
Century to around World War II, but in earlier times the proportion of undergraduates from quite humble origins was rather higher.”

The other explanation, he continues, concerned the need to avoid contact with disease. “Most epidemics, particularly plague, tended to occur in the summer months, and towns were especially vulnerable.” Hence the long vacation away from centres of learning in July, August and September.

Internet: <www.guardian.co.uk> (adapted).