Christmas before Christmas: Why Glasgow students are celebrating early

For most people, Christmas officially starts on 25 December. For Glasgow students, it starts the minute the last deadline is submitted — sometimes as early as mid-November.

Across the city, students are celebrating “Christmas before Christmas”: a chaotic, wholesome, slightly premature festive season marked by flat Christmas dinners, early Secret Santa, and nights out that blur suspiciously into December.

And honestly? It makes perfect sense.

Deadlines first, baubles later

@flat7152

battling seasonal depression #unilife #flatmates #belfast #christmas #fyp

♬ Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee

For many students, December is less about rest and more about dissertations, exams, and last-minute submissions. Celebrating early is the only way to enjoy Christmas without a Canvas deadline looming in the background.

Third year CGU engineering student Megan Connell said to The Tab Glasgow:  “Once deadlines hit in December, Christmas just becomes stressful. We do ours in November so we can actually enjoy it.”

Flat Christmases have become the centrepiece of early celebrations, with students cooking questionable roasts for each other, wearing festive jumpers weeks too soon and insisting it “counts.”

Because everyone disappears

Another major reason students celebrate early is simple logistics: no one stays in Glasgow for actual Christmas.

With students heading back to Ayrshire, the Highlands or “just 20 minutes away but somehow never visiting,” late November becomes the last chance to get everyone in the same room.

Strath second year law student, Jamie McFadden, said to The Tab Glasgow: “Our flat did Christmas on the 28th of November because that was the last night we were all free. It felt illegal but also very wholesome.”

Christmas on a student budget

Celebrating early also means celebrating cheaply.

Most Read

How to play the viral ‘say the word on beat’ game that’s all over TikTok right now

Here’s how to see your Snapchat Wrapped 2025, and can you really check other people’s?!

Influencer shares statement as graphic s*x tape with pop star ex is leaked in ‘cruel betrayal’

Students told us early Christmas dinners were easier to budget for, with shared Tesco shops, £5 decorations and a mutual agreement that Secret Santa budgets would stay “strictly under a tenner.”

And in a cost-of-living crisis, that matters.

Caledonian student Aisha Das said to The Tab Glasgow: “Early Christmas is way less pressure. No one expects loads of presents, it’s more about hanging out before everyone disappears.”

It’s not about the date

@its_maria_klat

Christmas at uni 🎄❤️

♬ Wanderlust – Degraus

Despite being prematurely festive, students insisted early Christmas still “feels like Christmas” — just without the stress.

From mulled wine nights to Christmas movie marathons and the annual argument over when it’s acceptable to play Mariah Carey, early celebrations have become a tradition in their own right.

As one student put it: “Real Christmas is for family. Early Christmas is for your flat.”

So while the rest of the country insists Christmas hasn’t started yet, Glasgow students will continue doing what they do best: celebrating early, cheaply, and with absolutely no shame.

After all, when deadlines are done and everyone’s still in the city, why wait? Christmas can come early.

For more of the latest news, guides, gossip and memes, follow The Glasgow Tab on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook