OAU freshers start moving in on Saturday, and lectures begin November 16

Obafemi Awolowo University will start moving newly admitted students into its halls of residence on Saturday, October 31, 2026, according to the OAU 2026/2027 academic calendar the university posted on its website on October 29. The move-in is staggered by faculty across Saturday and Sunday, returning undergraduates are due back on November 15, and Harmattan semester lectures begin on Monday, November 16.

The published calendar adds detail to the dates the university’s Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Olarewaju, announced in a statement on October 26, which gave Sunday, November 1 as the arrival day for fresh students. Because the full calendar spreads arrivals over two days by faculty, freshers should confirm which day applies to their own faculty before booking transport to Ile-Ife. The first three weeks are crowded, with registration, orientation and ICT training all running before lectures settle in.

Online registration is the deadline freshers can’t afford to miss

Online course registration opens on Monday, November 2, the same day orientation starts, and the calendar’s normal registration period runs until November 20. OAU’s calendar also sets out late registration windows that attract a penalty, so finishing your registration inside the normal period is the cheapest way through. December 10 is the deadline for amending your registration on the e-portal, which gives you a few weeks to correct a wrong course before it becomes a bigger problem.

If you’re still waiting on your JAMB admission to be finalised, don’t let that slide while the calendar moves ahead. Public universities have until October 31 to conclude admissions for the session, as we explained when covering the JAMB admission deadline and CAPS, so accept your offer on CAPS and print your admission letter before you travel.

Matriculation and convocation both land in December

Freshers matriculate on Thursday, December 3, barely three weeks after lectures begin, and convocation for graduating students runs from December 9 to 12. The first block of Harmattan lectures ends on December 18, the Christmas break runs from December 25 to January 1, and lectures resume on Monday, January 4, 2027, with mid-semester examinations scheduled for January 4 to 9. That means the Christmas holiday is short and the tests come straight after it, so plan your study around the break rather than after it.

The full session runs to September 2027, with SIWES in the final stretch

Harmattan semester lectures end on February 26, followed by a lecture-free week and examinations from March 8 to 27. After a vacation from April 5 to 17, Rain semester lectures begin on April 19, with exams from July 26 to August 13. Students on SWEP, SIWES or teaching practice are scheduled for August 16 to September 30, resit examinations hold from September 13 to 17, and the session officially ends on September 30, 2027.

The complete calendar, including committee and Senate dates, is available as a PDF on OAU’s official website, and it’s worth saving a copy on your phone. Other universities are setting their own conditions for new students this month too, including UNILAG’s drug test for freshers before registration, so check your own school’s notices if you’re helping a sibling or friend through admission elsewhere.

For a fresher heading to Ile-Ife this weekend, the order that matters is simple enough to keep on your phone. Confirm your faculty’s move-in day, finish online registration well before November 20, and mark December 3 for matriculation, so the first semester starts with your paperwork done and not with a late-registration penalty.