Semester dates and key enrolment deadlines (2026–2027)

Last checked: 5 October 2026. Unofficial student guide, not EPFL or government advice: confirm on the linked official pages before you act. Unfamiliar abbreviation? See the Glossary.

All dates below come from EPFL's public Academic calendar for Bachelor's and Master's students, unless another source is shown. Your programme or faculty may have its own extra deadlines, and EPFL says programmes announce these themselves.

Words you'll see

• IS-Academia: EPFL's online study portal. You use it for the FRAC, course registration and exam withdrawal. (Registering for subjects and tests)
• FRAC: EPFL's name for the academic reregistration form on IS-Academia. You confirm your personal and study details on it at the start of every semester, and you must submit it before you can register for courses. (New Bachelor students, Registering for subjects and tests)
• Student Services Desk: EPFL's main contact point for all student questions (room BP 1229). Contact details are at the end of this section. (Student services)
• Matriculation: your official in-person enrolment at EPFL, on set days just before the semester starts. (Matriculation Days)
• Foundation year: the first year of the Bachelor's programme. (End of studies and reregistration)
• CMS (Cours de mathématiques spéciales): a one-year preparatory year in maths, physics, computer science and chemistry. It is for some students whose diploma doesn't give direct entry to the first Bachelor's year, and for Swiss maturité holders who choose it. Teaching is in French. (EPFL – CMS, in French)
• Mise à niveau (MAN): a compulsory one-semester refresher course, in spring only. First-year students go into it if their average for the first group of subjects ("block 1") is below 3.50 after the winter exams. You must pass it (average of 4.00 or more) to retake the first year. (Requirements for passing the first year and the MAN, MAN, in French)
• SHS: EPFL's Social Science and Humanities programme, which is part of every study plan. (SHS Program)

Autumn semester 2026

Spring semester 2027

Holidays in spring: Good Friday (26 Mar), Easter Monday (29 Mar), Ascension Day (6 May) and Whit Monday (17 May 2027). (Academic calendar)

All Vaud public holidays, and what closes around Christmas and New Year: see Public holidays in Vaud.

Course registration on IS-Academia

• You must register for every course yourself, including compulsory courses. (Registering for subjects and tests)
• Deadline: the Friday of the second week of the semester. That is 18 September 2026 for autumn and 5 March 2027 for spring. EPFL emails you when registration opens. (Academic calendar, New Bachelor students)
• Changing your choices: until that deadline you can add and drop courses freely. After it, your registrations are final. (Withdrawing from subjects and tests)
• Projects: signing up on the "Projects portal" is not enough. You must also register the project in the "Course Registration" tab. (Registering for subjects and tests)
• Courses with limited places are first come, first served or follow a priority order. IS-Academia shows them as "registered/capacity" or "full". (Registering for subjects and tests)

Missed the deadline? You can no longer register on IS-Academia. You must go in person to the Student Services Desk and pay a late-registration fee. There are no exceptions. The absolute last deadline is the tenth Friday of the semester. (Registering for subjects and tests)

• To verify: the amount of that late-registration fee for ordinary BSc/MSc courses. The general registration FAQ still only says you must "pay a fee", with no CHF figure (Registering for subjects and tests). Other official pages give CHF 50 for nearby cases: the EPFL SHS "One Campus" page (written for UNIL students who register for One Campus courses through the EPFL desk) says « Taxe d'inscription tardive EPFL : CHF 50.- », with the same tenth-Friday cutoff (One Campus – SHS, in French). The late fee is also CHF 50 for Master's projects and for auditors (Master's projects, Auditors). The ETH Board's fee ordinance sets a general EPFL fee of CHF 50 for « non-respect d'un délai prescrit » (missing a set deadline), but it does not name course registration (RS 414.131.7, annex 2.2.4). In practice: expect about CHF 50 at the desk. The only EPFL document found that gives this amount for ordinary Bachelor's course registration is a faculty slide deck, not a Student Services rule: the IC faculty's 2026-2027 second-year presentation for Computer Science and Communication Systems says « En cas d'inscription après le délai vous devrez passer au Services aux étudiants et payer une taxe de CHF 50.- » (if you register after the deadline, you go to Student Services and pay a CHF 50 fee) (IC 2nd-year presentation 2026-2027, PDF in French). The Student Services FAQ, the academic calendar and EPFL's fee rules (LEX 2.10.1, LEX 2.10.4) don't give the amount. UNIL HEC's CHF 200 is a different procedure, so don't use it.
• Tenth Friday 2026–27: mapped from the official academic calendar's teaching weeks (autumn break 16–26 Oct and spring Easter break excluded, matching the calendar's own week-5 CMS and week-10 exam-withdrawal anchors). That date is 20 Nov 2026 in autumn and 7 May 2027 in spring, the same Fridays the calendar lists as "Exam withdrawal is due". Late registration and exam withdrawal both use the tenth Friday / Friday of the tenth week. (Academic calendar, Registering for subjects and tests, Withdrawing from subjects and tests)

Exam registration

There is no separate exam registration. When you register for a course, you are automatically registered for its tests, both during the semester and in the exam session. (Registering for subjects and tests)

Annual courses: some courses are taught over two semesters and examined only once. You must register for both parts. If you register for only one part, you can't take the exam and you get no credits. This also applies to exchange students. (Registering for subjects and tests)

First year, CMS and mise à niveau: withdrawing without a failure

In the foundation year you can't drop individual exams (see below). What you can do is leave the whole programme by a set date, and then that year or semester is not counted as a failure. Before that, like everyone, you can add and drop courses freely until the registration deadline (18 Sep 2026). (Withdrawing from subjects and tests, End of studies and reregistration)

Dates: Academic calendar. Rules: End of studies and reregistration, Requirements for passing the first year and the MAN.

• Calendar deadline day (practical rule): Treat 9 Oct (CMS), 31 Oct (foundation year, first attempt) and 31 Mar (mise à niveau) as the deadline day on the calendar. The academic calendar lists CMS withdrawal as "due" 9 Oct 2026, foundation-year withdrawal as "due" 31 Oct 2026, and mise à niveau as "due" 31 Mar 2027. The French calendar uses "Délai pour le retrait … sans échec" on those same dates; the French rules page names "la date limite de retrait au 31 octobre" / "au 31 mars" for foundation / MAN, and for CMS names the Friday of the fifth week (which is 9 Oct 2026). The English end-of-studies page says drop out "before the deadline (the Friday of the fifth week of classes)" for CMS and "before the 31st of October" / "before the 31st of March" for foundation / MAN; treat that as an EN wording conflict, and plan to the calendar / FR dates so your request is in by that calendar day. How to file: FRAC on IS-Academia when open, Registrar's Office Mon–Fri 10:00–12:00, or email student.services@epfl.ch. To verify: whether a request filed on the calendar deadline day itself still counts; ask the Registrar (student.services@epfl.ch). (Academic calendar, Calendrier académique, End of studies and reregistration, Fin d'études et réinscription)
• How to drop out: use the academic reregistration form (FRAC) on IS-Academia when it is open. You can also go to the Registrar's Office (Mon–Fri, 10:00–12:00) or email student.services@epfl.ch and give your reasons. (End of studies and reregistration)
• If you stay past the deadline, the normal pass/fail rules apply. For example, missing a first-year exam without a valid reason gives you "NA" (not acquired), which counts as a failure. (Requirements for passing the first year and the MAN)

Withdrawing from exams (Bachelor's and Master's cycles)

You withdraw on IS-Academia. In autumn this is possible from October until the Friday of the 10th week (20 Nov 2026). In spring it is possible from March until the Friday of the 10th week (7 May 2027). (Withdrawing from subjects and tests, Academic calendar)

(Withdrawing from subjects and tests)

• Foundation year (first year of the Bachelor's): you can't withdraw from individual tests. Your only way out without a failure is to leave the whole year by the deadline in the table above (31 Oct 2026, first attempt).
• Courses marked "sans retrait" (no withdrawal) can't be dropped after the registration deadline. Courses with limited places can't be dropped either, except SHS (social science and humanities) courses.
• A withdrawal is final. To register again, you have to go to the Student Services Desk and pay the late-registration fee.
• If you are registered but skip an exam without a valid reason, you get "NA" (not acquired), which counts as a failure. If you are ill, see a doctor before the test and follow the medical-certificate procedure.

Where to get help: the Student Services Desk

(Student services)

• Address: BP 1229 (BP building), Station 16, CH-1015 Lausanne
• Email: student.services@epfl.ch
• Phone: +41 21 693 43 45
• Regular hours: in person Mon–Fri 9:00–17:00; by phone 9:00–12:00 and 13:30–17:00