Lesson time for school children should be at least 32.5 hours a week, says DofE

Ministers keen to address ‘discrepancy in country’ over lost learning but heads say not to rush changes

CHILDREN should have at least 32.5 hours of school each week, ministers will announce next week amid concerns that some schools are shortchanging pupils on lesson time.

By September 2023, all schools will be expected to comply with this, under plans set out by the Department for Education (DfE) in a new White Paper tomorrow. Ministers have previously been urged to extend the school day to help children catch up on lost learning after the disruption they have faced due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But they have resisted calls for this and are instead opting to encourage schools to operate for a minimum number of hours each week.

Schools are allowed to set their own holiday timetable as long as they adhere to the 190 statutory minimum of teaching days each year. But there is no guidance or regulations on how many hours of the day schools should stay open for.

The 32.5-hour school week is equivalent to 8.45am to 3.15pm for five days a week. Officials believe that most schools already adhere to this but that there is discrepancy across the country.

A child who receives 20 minutes less of teaching per day would lose out on about two weeks of schooling a year.

Nadhim Zahawi, the Education Secretary, said that his focus is to create “strong schools and great teachers for every child”. He believes that school closures for prolonged periods during the pandemic has brought into focus the importance of children spending as much time in the classroom as possible.

But headteachers said that they were “unconvinced” by the plans and urged the Government not to rush any changes. Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “The vast majority of schools already meet, or come very close to meeting, this expectation.

“It will be important to understand the factors which may lead to fewer hours in some schools.”

Mr Barton said rural schools may base their start and finish times around transport arrangements if buses only run at certain times in the day.

“Adding time on to the school week may sound straightforward, but there are many issues which need to be considered in individual schools, and we would encourage the Government not to rush any changes,” he said.

The White Paper will detail Mr Zahawi’s ambition to drive up numeracy and literacy standards in schools.

It is also expected to set out the Government’s desire for more schools to be graded as “outstanding” by Ofsted and to join multi-academy trusts.

Bridget Phillipson MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, said the white paper lacks ambition. “Hundreds of thousands of primary children live in an area with no ‘good’ schools, the gap in learning between the most and least well-off pupils has widened during Covid, four in 10 young people leave education without the skills they need and young people are experiencing a mental health crisis. Yet the Government has no answers.”