The Welsh government is proposing cutting the six-week summer holiday by a week in order to give staff and pupils two weeks off in October.
The proposal is contained in a consultation, due to open at 2pm tomorrow, on changing the school calendar in time for the 2025-26 school year.
The NAHT Cymru school leaders’ union has reacted angrily to the news, however, saying there is “no real appetite” for such change.
The consultation will also explore the possibility that, in the future, the summer break could be cut further, to four weeks, with staff and pupils then given an additional week off in May.
However, no timetable is proposed for the introduction of a four-week summer break.
Under the plans, the number of days of school holidays and teaching days will not change - staff and pupils will still get 13 weeks of holiday.
The government wants to make changes so that breaks are spread out more evenly and so that staff and learners get more time to rest during the long autumn term.
The proposals are also designed to address long-standing concerns that the six-week summer break has a detrimental effect on learning - with pupils coming back to school having regressed in their learning.
Following the 12-week consultation, it is expected that an announcement on next steps will be made in spring 2024.
Proposed changes from September 2025
The proposed changes would then come in from September 2025, meaning schools would get a two-week break in October 2025 and a five-week summer break in 2026.
The summer holiday would therefore get underway a week later in 2026, with schools returning for the new academic year in September as usual.
The changes would also involve the spring break being “decoupled” from Easter, so that the timing of the holiday does not change and instead always falls in the middle of the spring term.
The government says if this proposal goes ahead Easter will fall outside of the spring break roughly twice in a 10-year period, and that on those occasions the Easter Monday and Good Friday public holidays will still apply.
The consultation will also explore additional changes that could be taken forward in the future, but not from 2025.
These changes include the option of reducing the summer break to just four weeks and adding a week to the Whitsun break in May.
Calendar to ‘suit local needs’
However, if this went ahead, the Welsh government says it would look to have GCSE and A-level results days in the same week, in a bid to reduce workload over the summer for secondary school leaders.
It says this will be explored over the coming years in the same timeframe as the rollout of Made-for-Wales qualifications.
Jeremy Miles, minister for education and Welsh language, said: “The long summer break can be a real strain. Families struggle to find childcare over the six weeks, and others struggle with the additional costs long summers bring. We also know our most disadvantaged learners suffer the most ‘learning loss’ from a long summer.”
He added: “There are plenty of examples of local authorities across the UK changing their school calendar to suit local needs.
“We want to make sure education works best for pupils, teachers and families. We’re looking for people’s views on these changes and what it would mean for them.”
Looking at different school term dates is part of the government’s cooperation agreement with Plaid Cymru.
Union ‘bewildered’
NAHT Cymru national secretary Laura Doel said the union is “bewildered as to why this consultation is taking place”.
She said: “No evidence has yet been presented that changing the school year would have any educational benefit for learners. And the previous consultation on this subject showed there was no real appetite for change, from parents, educators, businesses or the general public.
“So why is this continuing to be pushed as a priority right now?”
Ms Doel added: “NAHT Cymru firmly believes that the basis of any reform should ensure the best provision and outcomes for learners. In fact, the little evidence available on school holidays shows that countries with much longer summer breaks than Wales have higher levels of attainment and suffer no significant loss of learning.
“With so much going on in schools right now, with a new curriculum, ALN [additional learning needs] reform, and severe recruitment and retention and funding crises, this just isn’t a priority for schools.
“The Welsh government would be better served in focusing on providing support to teachers and learners, and helping schools deliver current reforms, before embarking on any further changes to education.”
Ms Doel was also “concerned to see the inclusion of an implementation date in this consultation” and asked “whether this is a true consultation, or has the government made up its mind already?”
