Dates and annual events

This page gives closure dates in the OU calendar and annual events run for the PGR community

University closure dates

During closure dates the University is closed and staff will not be working.

2026 closure dates

Thursday 1 January 2026 – New Year's Day
Friday 3 April 2026 – Good Friday
Monday 6 April 2026 – Easter Monday
Monday 4 May 2026 – Early May Bank Holiday
Monday 25 May 2026 – Spring Bank Holiday
Monday 31 August 2026 – Summer Bank Holiday
Friday 25 December 2026 – Christmas Day
Monday 28 December 2026 – Boxing Day (substitute day)
Tuesday 29 December–Thursday 31 December 2026 – University closure days

Progress Board

Progress Board is a group that is chaired by the Graduate School Director and made up of Faculty Directors of Research Degrees. It considers Exam Panel Nominations and complex change requests.

Key dates

It meets on the last Thursday of each of month.
Supervisors should submit Exam Panel Nominations to their Faculty Director of Research Degrees by the Wednesday of the previous week.
For example, nominations for the meeting on Thursday 29 October should be submitted by Wednesday 21 October.

Annual events

PGR Poster event

Usually held in May or June

The Graduate School's annual Poster Event, typically held as part of the PGR Summer Conference, gives research students the opportunity to showcase their work to a wider University audience.

Taking part helps you:

communicate your research to non-specialist audiences
develop presentation and research communication skills
network with fellow researchers across the University
raise the profile of your research
create a poster that can be reused at conferences and other events.

An online gallery is also available, enabling students who cannot attend in person to participate.

Where applicable, competition rules and entry information will be published ahead of the event on Graduate School Poster Competition website.

Create Your Research

Usually held in November

Create Your Research celebrates creative approaches to research communication and encourages postgraduate researchers to share their work with wider audiences in innovative and accessible ways.

The initiative evolved from the popular Bake Your Research programme, which challenged researchers to communicate their research through cake-based creations.