Adelaide University does not release a single public exam timetable. Each student gets a personalised schedule inside the Student Portal, showing the date, time, and venue of every exam, plus a seat number closer to the period.
For Semester 1 2026, the exam period runs 8–21 June, and the personalised timetable is released on 4 May. Searching for a downloadable PDF will not find it. You log in.
Where do you find the timetable?
The exam timetable lives in the Student Portal at students.adelaide.edu.au. It is generated per student from your enrolment, so no two timetables are identical and there is nothing to download from a public page.
Each entry shows the exam date, the start time, and the venue. Seat numbers appear separately, published in your timetable shortly before each exam period rather than on release day.
All times display in Australian Central Standard Time or Australian Central Daylight Time, depending on the season. If you sit an online invigilated exam from interstate or overseas, convert the time yourself, because the portal shows Adelaide time.
You can check the official exam timetable release dates page for every study period if your courses run outside standard semesters.
When is the timetable released?
Release dates are fixed per study period and listed in the Academic Calendar. The timetable for Semester 1 2026 is released on 4 May, and Semester 2 on 12 October.
Two dates matter, not one. The timetable release tells you when and where; the seat number release comes later, which is why the University advises against screenshotting your timetable in case details change.
Knowing the release date is the cue to start structured revision, not the exam date. Flashcards in AskSia use spaced repetition tuned to a target date, so feeding in your exam day spreads recall practice across the weeks before it rather than the night before.
When are the 2026 exam periods?
Semester exams sit in two blocks: 8–21 June and 16–29 November 2026. Both run as two-week windows, and your individual exams can fall on any day inside them.
That spread is the planning problem. A two-week window can place two exams 48 hours apart or 10 days apart, and you only learn which on release day.
Deferred and replacement exams run later: 15–22 July 2026 for Semester 1, and 20–27 January 2027 for Semester 2. These are for students approved through the modified assessment process, not a casual second chance.
For a sense of how exams sit against the rest of your study load, our breakdown of the Adelaide study plan maps where assessment periods fall across a full degree.
What surrounds the exam period?
The exam window does not sit alone. Each semester ends with a Study Without Teaching (SWOT) week, then the two-week exam block, then grade release a fortnight later.
That rhythm is the planning unit. SWOT week is your only teaching-free revision time before exams, so the timetable release date and SWOT week together mark when structured prep should already be underway.
Grade release is the bookend most students forget. Semester 1 primary grades land 7 July, and a deferred exam pushes your result to 28 July, which matters if a later enrolment or a visa depends on it.
When are the 2027 exam periods?
Adelaide publishes provisional dates a year ahead, useful if you are mapping a degree or planning travel. The University flags these as tentative and subject to change.
The pattern holds steady year to year: a June block for Semester 1 and a mid-to-late November block for Semester 2.
When are term and online exams?
Not every course runs on semesters. Adelaide University also delivers Terms, Online Terms, and Summer and Winter School, each with its own exam window and release date.
The four standard Terms carry the tightest exam blocks, often a single week. Miss the release date and you lose lead time you cannot recover.
Online Term exams follow yet another pattern. Online Term 2 runs 8–14 June 2026 with a 4 May release, while Summer School exams ran 26 January – 1 February 2026 and Winter School sits at 13–19 July. Check the release-dates page for the period that matches your enrolment.
What should you do on exam day?
Exams are scheduled Monday to Saturday, never Sunday, with most sessions starting at 9:00am or 1:30pm. Confirm your own start time in the portal rather than assuming.
Arrive 30 minutes early. Doors open 15 minutes before the start, and you cannot enter the venue more than 30 minutes after an exam begins.
Bring your Student ID card, or an SA Government photo ID if needed. The University is explicit that traffic, parking, and public events are not valid grounds for a replacement exam, so build buffer into your travel.
For the fortnight before, Mock Exam mode runs adaptive practice in the real exam format and auto-grades with rationale, which surfaces the topics you are weakest on while there is still time to fix them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I find my Adelaide University exam timetable?
Your exam timetable is published in the Student Portal at students.adelaide.edu.au, not as a public document. It is personalised from your enrolment and shows the date, time, and venue for each exam, with your seat number added shortly before the exam period begins. There is no single university-wide PDF to download, which is why a web search for one comes up empty. All times are shown in Adelaide time, ACST or ACDT depending on the season, so interstate and overseas students sitting online exams must convert to their local zone. Log in and check the timetable yourself rather than relying on a friend's schedule, since two students in the same course can sit different sessions. If your timetable does not appear on the release date, contact the Examinations and Results team to confirm your enrolment is complete.
When does the exam timetable come out?
Release dates are set per study period and published in the Academic Calendar. For 2026, the Semester 1 timetable is released on 4 May, ahead of the 8–21 June exam period, and the Semester 2 timetable on 12 October, ahead of 16–29 November. Term and Online Term timetables release on separate dates, for example 13 April for Term 1. The timetable release and the seat number release are two different dates, with seat numbers added closer to the exams. The University advises against screenshotting your timetable, because details can change after release. Set a reminder for your release date and re-check the portal in the final days before each exam, then confirm your venue and seat once they are published.
When are Adelaide University exams in 2026?
Standard semester exams run in two windows: 8–21 June 2026 for Semester 1, and 16–29 November 2026 for Semester 2. Each is a two-week block, and your individual exams can land on any day within it, including Saturdays. Deferred and replacement exams follow later, on 15–22 July 2026 and 20–27 January 2027. Students in Terms, Online Terms, or Summer and Winter School sit exams on different dates again, listed in full on the exam timetable release dates page. Because a two-week window can cluster two exams within 48 hours, plan revision around the whole period, not a single date. Use AskSia's Mock Exam mode in the fortnight before to rehearse under timed conditions across every examinable course.
Can my exam timetable change after release?
Yes. The University explicitly warns that timetable details can change after the release date, which is the reason it advises against screenshotting your schedule and relying on the saved image. Venue, seat number, and occasionally timing can be updated, and the seat number is published separately and later than the initial timetable. There is also a Last Day for Examination Adjustments, after which enrolment, location, and timezone changes can no longer be accommodated and you would need a replacement or deferred exam instead. Re-open the live timetable in the Student Portal the day before each exam to confirm nothing has shifted. For clashes, where two exams are scheduled at the same time, contact the Examinations and Results team as early as possible so they can arrange an alternative sitting.
What time do Adelaide exams start?
Most exam sessions begin at 9:00am or 1:30pm, and exams are scheduled Monday to Saturday, excluding Sunday. Your exact start time appears in your personalised timetable, so confirm it there rather than assuming the standard slots apply to you. Plan to arrive 30 minutes before the start; doors open 15 minutes prior, and entry is barred more than 30 minutes after the exam begins. All times are Adelaide time, ACST or ACDT. Treat traffic and parking as your responsibility, since neither counts as grounds for a replacement exam. If you have an approved Access Plan, the Access and Inclusion team can negotiate adjustments to standard conditions, including timing, so contact them well before the release date rather than in exam week.
