Quick answer
Define the interval once as a rule, generate the concrete dates from it, then apply holidays and closures as visible adjustments.
Rules generate dates; dates do not generate rules
A weekly seminar, a fortnightly review, a monthly assessment — each is a rule with a start date and an interval. Typing out the resulting dates by hand works once and then decays: a term shifts, a room changes, someone edits one date and not the others, and by mid-term two versions of the schedule are circulating.
Keeping the rule as the source of truth means a change is made in one place. Regenerate the dates, republish, and the whole sequence stays consistent. This is also what makes the schedule auditable — anyone can check whether a date belongs to the sequence.
Use this guide with the right tool: Open the Term Date Planner for the next scheduled date in a repeating academic or term calendar. If the question shifts, compare it with the Semester Length Calculator or the Recurring Date Calculator.
Weekly intervals are stable; monthly ones are not
A weekly or fortnightly interval always lands on the same weekday, which makes it easy to reason about and easy to fit into a timetable. A monthly interval keeps the day number and therefore moves across weekdays, which is usually not what an academic schedule wants.
If a monthly rhythm is genuinely needed, consider expressing it as "every fourth week" instead. That keeps the weekday fixed and gives thirteen occurrences a year rather than twelve — close enough for most purposes and far easier to timetable.
Holidays and closures are exceptions, not part of the rule
Term breaks, public holidays, reading weeks and institutional closures interrupt a sequence without changing its underlying rule. Model them that way: generate the full sequence, then mark the interrupted occurrences and decide individually whether each is cancelled or moved.
Building the exceptions into the interval itself is what produces schedules nobody can maintain. Once an exception is baked in, the rule no longer describes the sequence, and the next person to edit it has to reverse-engineer the intent.
Publishing dates people can act on
A published schedule should carry the weekday alongside the date. "Week 6 — Tuesday 22 September" is checkable at a glance; "Week 6" is not, and week numbering conventions differ between institutions and from ISO numbering.
Where the schedule spans a year boundary, include the year on every date. Academic years cross into January, and a bare day-and-month in a term list is exactly the kind of detail that gets misread by one year.
Worked example
Swap in your own figures and the method carries over unchanged. What does not carry over is the source of authority, which is specific to your situation.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Typing out the sequence by hand. It decays the first time something changes. Keep the rule and regenerate.
- Using a monthly interval for a timetabled session. Monthly intervals move across weekdays. Use a four-week interval to keep the day fixed.
- Building holidays into the interval. Model them as exceptions to a clean rule, or the schedule becomes unmaintainable.
Use the right calculator
Pick the one whose inputs match the information you actually have. Each page explains what its result does and does not cover.
Frequently asked questions
How do I handle a session that falls on a holiday?
Mark it as an exception and decide whether to cancel or move it. Do not shift the whole sequence.
Should term weeks use ISO week numbers?
Only if your institution does. Institutional week numbering usually starts at term start, which is not the same as ISO numbering.
How far ahead should a schedule be generated?
Far enough to be useful and close enough to be accurate — usually one term or semester at a time.