Schools asked to offer 32.5 hour school week

The Schools White Paper has set measures to level up education and help every pupil catch up from Covid.

As part of a series of new measures to support the delivery of these ambitions, it will ask schools to offer a minimum school week of 32.5 hours by September 2023.

A new guidance document on the plans has now been published.

It says the 32.5 hour minimum expectation includes the time in each day from the official start of the school day to the official end to the compulsory school day. The 32.5 hour minimum includes breaks and lunch times as well as teaching time and any extra-curricular activities that all pupils are expected to attend. It
does not include optional before or after school provision.

It says most schools already deliver a 32.5 hour week, or offer a longer school week, within their existing budgets. Schools that need to increase their hours to meet the minimum expectation will therefore be expected to do so from within their existing budget. There should be no additional cost to parents or pupils.

It says schools should organise the school day and school week in the best interests of their pupils, to provide them with a full-time education suitable to their age, background and ability. They should ensure they are delivering a broad and balanced curriculum within the school week for all their pupils.

Commenting, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “We hope that during the year before these proposals are implemented, there can be a review of the evidence supporting this plan. Simply adding five or ten minutes to a day is unlikely to bring much, if any, benefit. The government says it will be guided by evidence – they need to meet that undertaking.”