Support is surging for a massive petition which is urging the government to change the school week to four days. In just 24 hours support has surged by more than 50,000 signatures on the Parliament website, meaning the Department for Education must answer the questions raised.
If the petition which is currently on 64,733 gets to 100,000 signatures it should lead to a debate in Parliament, potentially putting pressure on the government to take action. The petition, created by Steve Smith says: “We urge the Government to require all schools to reduce the school week to four instead of five days by making each school day one hour longer whilst requiring the school week to be four instead of five days.”
While generally schools in the Uk are 5 days a week, in the USA there has been a shift with 2,100 public schools in 26 states switching to a four-day school week.
In Texas alone, the number of schools adopting the condensed schedule has soared — from 30 schools during the 2020-21 academic year to 506 in 2024-25, The Texas Tribune recently reported.
Where schools have made the change, they reported that the number of applications for teaching posts soared.
Liberty Woodland school, for children aged four to 16, is one of a small number of schools in England experimenting with the traditional timetable for pupils and teachers, in response to concerns about children’s mental health and a shortage of teachers.
Instead of the usual 9am to 3pm Monday to Friday, the school day starts at 8.30am and ends at 4.40pm, with no school on Fridays for pupils. Teachers, however, are expected to work, supporting children online with any outstanding work, as well as getting on with planning and marking.
Head of school and founder, Leanna Barrett told the Guardian: “It’s an opportunity for children to explore their passions. The world has changed drastically. I feel as though school has not kept up with that. We need to have a better work-life balance.”
Faced with a teacher recruitment and retention crisis, schools across England are increasingly offering a range of incentives to make the job more appealing.
All Saints Catholic college, a state secondary school in west London, gives teachers two free periods a week to allow them a lie-in, while Dixons academies trust, which runs 16 schools and one college, recently introduced a nine-day fortnight for teachers.
Joe Ryle, the director of the 4 Day Week Campaign, which advocates for a reduction in working hours without a reduction in pay, said: “A four-day week for teachers could solve the severe recruitment and retention crisis being faced in our schools. Unless we tackle work-life balance for teachers, the government’s pledge to recruit 6,500 more teachers in England will be meaningless.”
The average full-time teacher works 52 hours a week in term-time, according to the latest statistics. Former north Tyneside primary school teacher Daniel Kebede, 38, is the head of Britain’s largest education union, with more than half a million members.
In order to avoid burnout, Kebede wants to granting teachers a day a week to work from home – as well as allowing them to stagger the times they start and finish their working day.
He said this week: “Staggered starts and finishes and remote planning time would make a real big difference. Does a physics teacher need to be in at 8am in the morning?
“Timetabling can allow for staggered starts and you just also just need the government and employers to trust that teachers are doing their work as necessary rather than being forced to be on site.”
Retention rates for teachers in the UK is among the worst of 20 countries studied by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Nearly one in ten qualified teachers left the profession in 2022-23, OECD data revealed.
A Department for Education spokesperson said earlier this year: “We are not going to reduce the amount of time children in England spend in school.
“Every hour in the classroom helps break down barriers to opportunity for young people and our plan for change sets out our mission to give every child the best life chances, breaking the link between background and success.”
To view and sign the petiton click here.