Published Reference · Updated Quarterly

Cohort Calendar.

Sikhiyas runs three intake cycles a year — Spring (March), Summer Reconnect (June), and Autumn (September) — across the Summer Reconnect, Seva Semester, and Full Seva Year tracks. This page lists the published dates for the next eighteen months. Apply roughly four to six months before your preferred start (six to nine for the Under-18 cohort).

I. Open Now

The following intakes are currently open or closing very soon. If you intend to apply, the first step is the same regardless of track: write to the Diaspora Office. See the Apply page for entry-point routing.

II. Opening Soon

III. Cohort Calendar 2026 — At A Glance

• Spring 2026Cohort in residence · 2 March – 31 August 2026 (Seva Semester) · 2 March 2026 – February 2027 (Full Seva Year)
• Summer 2026 AdultCohort in residence · 8 June – 30 August 2026 · admissions closed January 2026
• Summer 2026 Under-18Cohort in residence · 15 June – 6 September 2026 · admissions closed February 2026
• Autumn 2026Cohort begins 7 September 2026 · applications close 31 May 2026 · final places open

IV. Cohort Calendar 2027 — At A Glance

• Spring 2027Seva Semester · 2 March – 31 August 2027 · applications 1 Sep – 15 Nov 2026
• Spring 2027 YearFull Seva Year · 2 March 2027 – February 2028 · applications 1 Sep – 15 Nov 2026
• Summer 2027 AdultSummer Reconnect · 7 June – 29 August 2027 · applications 1 Dec 2026 – 15 March 2027
• Summer 2027 Under-18Under-18 Reconnect · 14 June – 5 September 2027 · applications 1 Oct 2026 – 15 January 2027
• Autumn 2027Seva Semester & Full Seva Year · 6 September 2027 onward · applications 1 March – 31 May 2027

V. Why The Cycle Looks This Way

Three considerations shaped this calendar.

Diaspora school and university calendars. The Spring intake (March start) follows the UK and European Easter break, allowing university gap-year participants to bridge from autumn term into a March–August Seva Semester. The Summer Reconnect intake serves North American summer breaks and the UK long vacation. The Autumn intake aligns with the September academic refresh in most diaspora geographies.

Indian climatic windows. Cohorts begin after the heavy monsoon and before the Himachal winter sets in. The March cohort opens with spring agricultural work and BAGEECHA nursery activity. The June cohort coincides with monsoon disaster-preparedness training and pre-monsoon ecological restoration. The September cohort runs through the autumn restoration and winter-readiness window.

Field-partner rhythms. EduCARE and RISHEE field operations follow the natural calendar of disaster-preparedness work, public-health outreach, and ecological restoration. Cohorts begin when partners can absorb new participants without compromising the depth of learning available.

VI. Application Lead Times

The seven-stage intake means applications close well before the cohort begins. As a working rule of thumb:

• Adult applicantApply 4–6 months before preferred cohort start
• Under-18 applicantApply 6–9 months before preferred cohort start
• Mid-career professionalApply 6 months minimum — sabbatical and visa logistics take longer
• Solidarity PathwayApply by the same window as the equivalent adult or Under-18 intake
• Partnership cohortPlan 9–12 months ahead through the Partnerships Office

The dates above are application-close dates, not application-start dates. We strongly encourage first emails three to four weeks before close, so the first-conversation video call can be scheduled inside the application window rather than rushed after it.

VII. Calendar Updates

This page is reviewed and updated quarterly — typically in the first week of January, April, July, and October. The most recent revision is dated at the foot of this page. For confirmed cohort dates more than eighteen months ahead, write to the Diaspora Office; the longer-horizon calendar is shared on request to families planning around school-year transitions, parental leave, or career sabbaticals.

If you would like to be notified when each new intake opens, send a one-line message to diaspora@sikhiyas.org with the subject line Calendar notifications and the cohort track you are watching. We will write to you, once, when applications open for that track. We do not run a marketing list.

VIII. A Final Note

Cohort dates are firm once published, but they are not the only date that matters. The first conversation, the written application, the offer letter, and the pre-departure orientation are each their own milestones, and a serious applicant will plan around those as well as around the start date itself. The Scholarship Details page sets out the full seven-stage timeline. The Apply page sets out the first step.