Out of interest... what holiday time do lecturers get? Is it set days or do they get the whole summer plus Christmas/Easter off? What’s it like? Thanks!

It is like any other office job, 28-35 days holiday a year or something like that. They can technically take it anytime of the year but are under pressure not to take it during term time.

PS: not a lecturer

Yes, it's normal. They tend to use the Summer break for research, marking, admin, preparing to next semester, and the Easter one for marking, admin etc. It's not like they actually get huge amounts of time off. In fact, the hours per week they work are probably higher than many other professions. Same goes for other academic members of staff. You're just working a lot of the time! Not a 9 to 5. Oh and fewer days off than what rewt says if you are in the US. More like 20! :/