Diversity Calendar 2025-26

This may be used when deciding timetables, coursework deadlines & field trips etc. Dates are not intended to be prescriptive or exhaustive. You may suggest other notable dates via equalities@ucl.ac.uk

September 2025
October 2025
November 2025
December 2025
January 2026
February 2026
March 2026
April 2026
May 2026
June 2026
July 2026
August 2026
Useful Links
Absence due to religious commitments

September 2025

September marks East and South East Asian Heritage Month

4-5 Milad un-Nabi (Islam)
15-21 National Inclusion Week
21 UN International Day of Peace
22 Autumn Equinox/Mabon (Wicca/Pagan)
22-1 Navratri (Hindu)
23 Bi-Visibility Day
22-24 Rosh Hashanah (begins sunset of Monday, ends nightfall of Wednesday; work not permitted) (Judaism)
25 Fast of Gedaliah (Judaism)

October 2025

October marks Black History Month

1-2 Yom Kippur (begins sunset of Wednesday, ends nightfall of Thursday; work not permitted) (Judaism)
2 Dusherra (Hindu)
6-13 Dyslexia Awareness Week
6-13 Sukkot (begins sunset of Monday, ends nightfall of following Monday; no work permitted on October 7-8) (Judaism)
10 World Mental Health Day
11 National Coming Out Day
13-15 Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah (begins sunset on Monday, ends nightfall of Wednesday; work not permitted) (Judaism)
14 Ada Lovelace Day
15 International Pronouns Day
19-25 Ace Week
20 Installation of Scriptures as Guru Granth (Sikh) | Diwali (Hindu/Jain/Sikh)
22 Birth of the Báb (Bahá’í)
23 Birth of Bahá’u’lláh (Bahá’í)
31 All Hallows' Eve (Christian) | Samhain/Hallowe'en (Wicca/Pagan)

November 2025

1 All Saints' Day (Christian)
2 All Souls’ Day (Christian)
5 Kartik Purnima (Hindu, Jain, Sikh) | Guru Nanak Dev Sahib Birthday (Sikh)
9 Remembrance Sunday
9-11 Interfaith Week
10-17 Anti-bullying Week
14 UK Disability History Month begins
19 International Men’s Day
20 Transgender Day of Awareness
25 Day of the Covenant (Bahá’í)
27 Ascension of Abdu’l-Bahá (Bahá’í)
30 St. Andrew's Day (Christian)

December 2025

1 Gita Jayanti (Hindu)
1 World AIDS Day
2 International Day for the Abolition of Slavery
3 International Day of People with Disabilities
8 Bodhi Day (Buddhism)
10 International Human Rights Day
14-22 Chanukah (Judaism) (work permitted except on Shabbat)
16 Dhanu Sankranti (Hindu)
20 UK Disability History Month ends
21 Winter Solstice/Yule (Wicca/Pagan)
25 Christmas Day (Christian)
28 Holy Innocents (Christian)
30 Asarah B'Tevet (Judaism) (work permitted)

January 2026

1 New Year’s Day
3 Mahayana New Year (Buddhist)
4 World Braille Day
6 Epiphany (Christian)
7 Christmas Day (Orthodox)
13 Maghi (Sikh)
16 Lailat al-Miraj (Islam)
18 World Religion Day (Bahá’í)
23 Vasant Panchami (Hindu)
27 Holocaust Memorial Day

February 2026

February marks LGBT History Month

1 Imbolc (Christian/Pagan/Wiccan)
1-2 Tu B'Shevat (Judaism) (work permitted)
2 Candlemas (Christian)
6 International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation
11 International Day of Women and Girls in Science
14 St. Valentine’s Day (Christian)
15 Nirvana Day (Buddhist) | Maha Shivratri (Hindu)
17 Chinese New Year
17-18 Ramadan (Islam)
17 Shrove Tuesday (Christian)
18 Ash Wednesday (Christian)

March 2026

March marks Women’s History Month

1 St. David’s Day (Christian)
2-3 Purim (begins sunset of Monday, ends nightfall of Tuesday, work should be avoided) (Judaism)
4-6 Hola Mohalla (Sikh)
8 International Women’s Day
15 International Day to Combat Islamophobia
16 Laylat al-Qadr (Islam)
16-22 Neurodiversity Celebration Week
17 St. Patrick's Day (Christian)
20 Spring Equinox/Ostara (Wicca/Pagan) | Naw-Rúz (Bahá’í) | Eid al-Fitr (Islam)
21 International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
31 International Transgender Day of Visibility

April 2026

1-9 Passover (begins sunset of Wednesday, ends nightfall of Thursday; no work permitted April 2-3 and April 8-9) (Judaism)
3 Good Friday (Christian)
4 Holy Saturday (Christian)
5 Easter Sunday (Christian)
6 Easter Monday (Christian)
12 Orthodox Easter (Christian)
13 Vaisakhi (Hindu, Sikh)
14 First Day of Ridván (Bahá’í)
23 St. George's Day (Christian)
26 International Lesbian Visibility Day
28-29 Ninth Day of Ridván (Bahá’í)
30-1 Second Passover (work permitted) (Judaism)

May 2026

1 Beltane/May Eve (Wicca/Pagan) | Vesak (Buddhist)
2 Twelfth Day of Ridván (Bahá’í)
3 International Family Equality Day
4 Early May Bank Holiday
4-5 Lag B’Omer (work permitted) (Judaism)
6-12 Deaf Awareness Week
11-17 Mental Health Awareness Week
14 Ascension Day (Christian)
17 International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia
21 Global Accessibility Awareness Day
21-23 Shavuot (Judaism) (no work permitted)
24 Declaration of the Báb (Bahá’í)
25 Spring Bank Holiday
26 Waqf al Arafa (Hajj Day) (Islam)
27-30 Eid al-Adha (Islam)
29 Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh (Bahá’í)

June 2026

15-21 Learning Disability Week
16 Guru Arjan Martyrdom (Sikh)
18 Autistic Pride Day
21 Muharram - New Year (Islam) | Summer Solstice/Litha (Wicca/Pagan)
22 Windrush Day
23 International Women In Engineering Day

July 2026

2 Shivah Asar B'Tammuz (begins dawn of Thursday, ends at nightfall of Thursday; work permitted) (Judaism)
2-23 The Three Weeks (Work permitted, except Shabbat) (Judaism)
10 Martyrdom of the Báb (Bahá’í)
14 International Non-Binary People’s Day
18 Nelson Mandela International Day | South Asian Heritage Month begins
25 St. James the Great Day (Christian)
28-29 Tu B’Av (Judaism) (work permitted)
29 Tisha B’Av (Judaism) (work permitted)
29 Asalha Puja / Dharma Day (Buddhist)

August 2026

1 Lughnassadh/Lammas (Wicca/Pagan)
17 South Asian Heritage Month ends
23 International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition
27 Obon (Buddhist)
28 Raksha Bandhan (Hindu)
31 Late Summer Bank Holiday

Useful Links

Please refer to Interfaith for a fuller list of events and festivals.

Absence due to religious commitments

It has been agreed at UCL that student requests to be absent due to religious commitments should be considered sympathetically. Students should not be registered as ‘absent without good cause’ if they are absent due to religious commitments, provided this has been discussed and agreed in advance with their tutor.

Staff wishing to observe religious festivals and holy days should discuss this with their manager in advance. Managers in turn are encouraged to sympathetically consider requests for annual leave or flexible work schedules from staff wishing to participate in religious festivals, and to be prepared to make changes to working arrangements if they don’t cause undue disruption in terms of service or unduly impact on others.

Return to Contents