Campaigners have written to the government calling for a pilot of a four-day working week at schools in England and Wales, which they claim will benefit both teachers and students.
In a letter to education secretary Bridget Phillipson, the 4-Day Week Foundation argues that the move could tackle “unprecedented” burnout among teachers and improve recruitment and staff retention.
The campaign group said the government would be unable to meet its target of recruiting 6,500 new teachers without change, with vacancies hitting a record high earlier this year.
“Teachers are burning out at unprecedented rates. A four-day week isn’t about doing less – it’s about working smarter, protecting staff wellbeing and ultimately improving outcomes for students,” said 4 Day Week Foundation campaign manager James Reeves.
“It’s time for bold leadership and evidence-driven four-day school week trials to show what a modern, sustainable education system can look like.”
However, the government does not appear ready to budge on this issue, based on a response to a recent parliamentary petition, while some experts have raised concerns about how parents would adjust to such a change.
Who is calling for a four-day school week?
The 4 Day Week Foundation is one of the leading voices making this call, arguing that improving the wellbeing and productivity of teachers will ultimately benefit students as well.
Similar demands have been made by other groups, however, with the National Education Union (NEU) recently proposing that full-time teachers should be allowed to work one day a week from home.
“The reason so many teachers work extraordinarily long hours is to achieve all the tasks, planning and marking they need to get done,” the union’s general secretary Daniel Kebede said in September.
Campaigners argue that a four-day week would give teachers more time to do extra work, such as marking, without it taking up their weekends. (Getty Images)
“Just because a teacher is not in front of a classroom teaching children does not mean they are not hard at work. This is a myth that needs exploding.”
The Alex Ferry Foundation, a charity aiming to improve people’s working lives, has also called for a four-day working week for teachers, due to stress and an overload of work for school staff.
What else do campaigners want?
The 4 Day Week Foundation argues that a four-day, 32 hour working week should also result in no loss of pay for staff, as it argues that longer hours does not guarantee greater productivity.
Research organisation the Autonomy Institute has made the case for a four-and-a-half day working week, pointing to Community Schools Trust schools in East London, which finish early on Fridays.
This is offset by longer Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but teachers still gain one net hour per week outside classrooms, which they can either use for preparation, marking or to get some extra rest.
Reeves told Yahoo News that the trust has “some of the highest attainment rates in the country for disadvantaged students”.
Liberty Woodland, a small independent school in south London, only requires pupils to come in for four days, albeit slightly longer ones, per week, giving teachers a full day to catch up with admin or support students online, the Guardian reported.
Campaigners have written to education secretary Bridget Phillipson calling for change. (Alamy)
The Autonomy Institute says a key part of a transition to a four-day working week should involve childcare and unpaid care work becoming more equally split by gender.
Some have expressed concerns about an additional burden of childcare being placed on working parents as a result of a four-day school week, but Reeves offered some reassurances.
“Schools we’ve spoken to who have implemented shorter weeks have said that despite initial concerns from parents about childcare, they have managed to adapt and make it work,” she said.
What is the situation in the rest of the UK?
In November, Scotland’s education secretary Jenny Gilruth set out proposals for a “new deal” for teachers, arguing that their time spent in classrooms could be cut while also delivering “better outcomes” for pupils.
This could potentially see the introduction of a flexible four-day teaching week, giving teachers a dedicated day to carry out other parts of their job, Gilruth said in November.
However, this is still at the proposal stage, and the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) has expressed doubts over how a four-day school week could actually work.
Schools in Wales follow the five-day week model, with campaigners from the 4 Day Week Foundation including the country in their demands, as well as England.
There does not appear to be a significant push for a four-day school week in Northern Ireland, where the five-day school week is the norm.
1 in 10 teachers quit profession
There is no doubt unions believe teachers are underpaid and undervalued.
On 29 November, the NEU (the UK’s largest teaching union) said it had agreed to launch an indicative ballot over potential strike action for “better pay and funding”. It said the ballot in February would ask members’ willingness “to take strike action on the issue of continued austerity in education”.
NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede said: “The government’s proposed 6.5% pay rise for teachers over three years, with no extra money behind it, will only worsen the situation.
“Cold classrooms, leaking roofs, broken toilets. Staff leaving and never replaced. Workload soaring as a result. We cannot endure any more cuts to education.”
In September, research from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) indicated that England had one of the worst retention rates in the developed world, with almost 1 in 10 teachers leaving the profession in 2023. Only three countries in the sample recorded worse teacher leaver rates.
Teachers are currently entitled to give 10% of their work hours to preparing lessons and marking (PPA) and the time can vary each week, depending on finding cover for classes.
A full-time teacher works an average 52 hours a week in term-time, official figures suggest.
A poll published in April of more than 14,100 NEU teacher members in state schools in England suggested more than half (56%) said the rate of staff leaving their workplace has worsened in the past year.
Teachers said it is commonplace for them to work evenings (62%), weekends (55%) and more than a third (36%) said they frequently cancel plans in order to get on top of their workload.
What has the government said?
The Westminster government does not appear willing to budge on this issue when it comes to a shorter teaching week.
Responding in October to a parliamentary petition, signed by more than 125,000 people, calling for a four-day school week, the government said the following: “The government has no plans to reduce the school week to four days. Regular attendance at school is vital for children’s education, well-being and long-term development as well as parental employment.”