The sector body for academy trusts has called for the government’s plan for a minimum 32.5-hour school week to be “delayed or reconsidered”, adding its voice to growing demands for more clarity on the policy.
In a letter sent to schools minister Nick Gibb, and seen exclusively by Tes, the Confederation of School Trusts (CST), says trusts and schools need far more time to implement the requirement, as many leaders were waiting on promised guidance that has not appeared.
Leora Cruddas, chief executive of the CST, writes in the letter: “We note the government signalled this policy intent in an information note in March 2022. However, that same note also said, ‘More detailed guidance and case studies to support schools in delivering this policy will be published in summer 2022.’
“Many schools and trusts have understandably made the strategic decision to wait for this guidance. As it has not yet been published, a full year since the commitment made in the note of March 2022, there is now insufficient time to implement it.”
Additional time for implementation is required to allow schools to ensure that any changes to their timetable are properly managed, the CST says.
For example, the letter notes that any changes would require amending contractual arrangements with staff and external providers, such as bus companies. Curriculum plans and associated staffing planning will likely be determined by now so wholesale timetable changes are not feasible.
Concerns over minimum 32.5-hour school week
The letter also details wider concerns about the policy’s purpose. “We recognise the government’s intention is to use this policy to improve educational standards. However, we don’t believe it will,” Ms Cruddas writes.
Specifically, she says that while evidence does show that more time spent in school correlates with “higher educational outcomes”, this only relates to increasing the amount of instructional time. It is unlikely that this is something schools will do to adhere to this policy.
“Without more fundamental changes to teachers’ contracts, recruitment and retention levels, and school funding, it is highly likely that those schools which fall just below the 32.5 hours may be left with no option than to use additional recreation time to ‘top up’ the length of the school week,” Ms Cruddas writes.
Finally, the organisation states that mandating a minimum weekly time in schools goes against much of the “government’s philosophy over the past decade”, which has been to give leaders in schools and trusts the “autonomy” to make their own decisions on things like the length of the school week.
“It is hard for us to reconcile this with the government’s policy on the length of the school week, which seems to undermine the importance of local decision making,” the letter says.
“For these reasons we are of the view that the policy should be delayed or reconsidered.”
Ofsted to inspect non-compliance
The letter from the CST comes after school leaders’ unions called for the policy to be dropped or delayed, as heads feel they have been left in the dark over the situation. These unions urged the DfE to provide an update on the situation.
The proposal for a minimum 32.5-hour school week was originally put forward as part of the wider Schools Bill, which was subsequently dropped late last year, leading many to believe the week-length requirement was also being dropped.
However, guidance from the Department for Education, first unveiled in March 2022, still states that “by September 2023 at the latest, all state-funded, mainstream schools will be expected to provide a compulsory school week of at least 32.5 hours”.
What’s more, it states that any school not adhering to the requirement will be asked why in any Ofsted inspections.
Tes has seen numerous examples of schools that have engaged in consultations with parents to extend their school day in order to comply with this requirement - but some leaders have said they were unaware the requirement was still coming into force from September.
The DfE has been contacted for comment.
