Guidance

Length of the school week

Non-statutory guidance and case studies for schools in England wanting to increase the length of their school week, including those delivering below the minimum 32.5 hours.

• From: Department for Education
• Published: 28 March 2022
• Last updated: 17 July 2023 — See all updates

Applies to England

Documents

Length of the school week: non-statutory guidance

PDF, 209 KB, 14 pages

Length of the school week: case studies

PDF, 184 KB, 11 pages

Details

These documents provide information on the expectation for all state-funded mainstream schools to deliver a school week of at least 32.5 hours by September 2024 at the latest.

They set out steps for increasing time beyond the minimum school week and provide case studies where schools have found positive benefits from increasing the length of their school week, or having a school week of 32.5 hours or more.

This guidance is for:

• leaders of schools and trusts
• school staff
• trust boards and governing bodies in all maintained schools, academies and free schools, special schools and alternative provision

This follows the publication of the Opportunity for all: strong schools with great teachers for your child white paper.

Published 28 March 2022
Last updated 17 July 2023 + show all updates

1. 17 July 2023

   'Minimum expectation on length of the school week: information note' has been replaced by 'Length of the school week: non-statutory guidance' and 'Length of the school week: case studies'.

2. 28 March 2022

   First published.