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9 best academic year diaries

Start off the new academic year with the best intentions by investing in a clever planner

Wednesday 22 August 2018 10:26 BST

Writing things down and being organised is an excellent way to help achieve your goals (Shutterstock)

While most of the world operates January to December, there are millions for whom the start of a year is marked by a new term or semester.

For the many beginning university courses, or perhaps new teaching jobs this autumn – the 2018/19 academic year will bring a host of challenges and opportunities to be organised and remembered.

Here, we’ve gathered together a range of top notch academic diaries to help with that task. We’ve tried to include options to suit different budgets – from the skint student to a tutor with more cash to splash, and also a range of sizes.

Some want a compact option to shove into a small bag, and some a hefty desk diary in which to record all the details of their busy lives.

We’ve looked for value, quality and practicality – as even the prettiest diary can be useless if not well designed.

Pirongs Page-a-day-diary: £11.50, Amazon

For those who like plenty of space to organise their day – teachers and academics as well as more studious students – these stylish page-a-day diaries by Pirongs are the answer.

Available in a range of bold colours and customisable with pen loops, elastics and embossed silver text, they include an at-a-glance year planner and pages for notes, contacts and timetables.

Also available in A4 for those who like a whopping great desk diary in which to plan their lives by the hour.

Letts Edge A5 week-to-view 18-month diary: £12.99, Amazon

This minimalist, soft cover volume is printed on sustainable paper, using eco-friendly soy-based ink, and is replete with globe-trotting info, such as international holidays, dialling codes and time zones.

Notwithstanding these additions, this is a relatively slim and lightweight diary that makes smart use of space – with each left hand page divided into the week’s seven days and the right hand leaf left clear for more free-wheeling notes and reminders.

There’s a useful planner, with six months to a spread, and extra pages for timetables and more notes. This is a sophisticated looking product and about the right scale of genuinely useable diary for many people.

And with 18 months covered (until the end of 2019) it’s good value too.

Esmie White Cranes medium week-to-view diary: £23.99, Waterstones

Not the cheapest, but this elegant tome features a cover made from silk screen printed paper made in Kyoto, Japan that has been hand bound in England to produce a product that is a little luxury to have in your bag.

It has contacts and notes pages, plus a month-per-page calendar at the front, and is lightweight enough to be carried around.

BusyB Mid-year 17-month diary: £14.99, BusyB

For anyone who has to run other people’s lives as well as their own, this diary – which covers you all the way to the end of 2019 – is a stroke of genius.

Each spread covers one week, but is divided into four columns so you can easily keep track of where your other half, children, or team members need to be.

Alternatively, the extra columns could be used to plan meals, diarise social engagements or make to-do lists.

This clever diary also features pockets for stashing bits of paper, tear-off list-making pages, space for contacts, birthdays, timetables, notes and reminders. The organising world is your oyster.

Collins Legacy pocket mid-year diary: £6.99, Amazon

A professional looking option for those on the go who need something compact to have with them at all times.

Not one for those who like to wax lyrical, due to its diminutive size, but features handy travel info plus pages for timetables and a planner.

Filofax Finsbury pocket organiser: £39.33, Amazon

The smartphone killed the Filofax. Or maybe it didn’t. Many of us have love/hate relationships with our electronic devices, there are few things so good for clearing the head as noting reminders and to-do lists on paper rather than a handset.

This smart pocket organiser, for which you can buy academic calendar inserts as well as a range of other refills such as to-do lists and contacts pages, is made from real leather that will last a lifetime.

Best of all, it has a zip purse, and space for a couple of cards, so when you want to travel light you can leave your wallet – and maybe even your phone – behind. Still a great gift for someone starting an academic course or a job.

Paperchase Kraft A5 2 days to a page diary: £10, Paperchase

This chunky, zero nonsense volume is encased in neutral brown card that begs to be personalised, and lies fully flat on a desk thanks to its ring-binding.

There’s half a page of diary per day, plus extra pages at the back for contacts and notes, a planner at the front and some info, such as conversion tables.

Collins Scandi A5 day-to-a-page diary: £11.99, Ryman

This chunky ring-bound option is perfect for anyone who gets annoyed by diaries that won’t lay flat, and comes complete with tabs for easy flicking between months.

There are whole pages divided into half hour slots for each day, plus pages for timetables and notes, leaving plenty of scope to be ultra organised. It also includes a load of (mostly) useful information at the front, including contact details for academic organisations, such as funding bodies, exam boards and subject associations.

This is a good product for 2018/19, and will hopefully appear in a wider range of colours in the future.

Moleskine Harry Potter week-to-view large mid-year 2018-2019 diary: £21.99, Ryman

Even in this digital age, Moleskine is cool. For a decent chunk of the population, Harry Potter is also cool. This, then, is the diary for them.

Resembling some kind of spell book with its red and gold cover, and featuring images of a moonlit Hogwarts on the inner cover, this limited edition diary is certainly one for the fans.

But it is a practical thing too, with Moleskine’s usual high quality finishing, an expandable pocket for stashing stray bits of paper and a ribbon bookmark.

The right hand side of each spread is left blank for notes, with the left divided into the days of the week. It covers 18 months until the end of 2019.

Verdict: best academic year diaries

For a good value option that feels hard-wearing and practical, a Pirongs diary is the one to pick.

The BusyB is a fantastic idea for anyone trying to juggle multiple lives, and for a spot of luxury gifting, the Filofax has still got it.