The government appears to lack a clear picture of which schools are defying its expectation that they should operate a 32.5-hour week, with dozens of leaders crying foul over national data which suggests one in six is not compliant.
The Department for Education (DfE) said that, from September 2024, it expected all schools to be open to pupils for a minimum of 32.5 hours a week, inclusive of break and lunchtimes.
The expectation breaks down to 6.5 hours per day, but the guidance is non-statutory.
The government has collected data on the length of lessons for years in its termly school census. But this category was relabelled as “school time” in the 2024-25 academic year.
Guidance made it clear that this should include the whole school day, not just lessons. Schools must now also display their opening hours on their websites.
Figures from the 2024-25 “schools, pupils and their characteristics” dataset, which is informed by the censuses, suggested that 3,256 schools out of 20,000 – or around 16 per cent – operated a week that was shorter than 32.5 hours.
Data ‘captured incorrectly’
The data suggested that some schools had weeks of as little as eight hours, while others ranged to over 52 hours.
When approached about their data, many schools and trusts told Schools Week that it was incorrect.
Figures submitted to the DfE suggested that seven academies that are part of Lift Schools had a week shorter than 32.5 hours, with the deficit ranging from 0.25 hours to 7.5 hours per week.
But Lift, which runs 57 schools across England, said all figures below 32.5 hours were incorrect.
“Over the past few years, we have been focused on ensuring all school are delivering the minimum of 32.5 hours and can confirm that all of our mainstream schools are delivering a timetable that meets this requirement,” Lift said.
The data showed that Affinity Learning Partnership had two schools operating at 7.5 hours below the target. But a trust spokesperson said it “does not recognise where these figures have come from and is keen to try and rectify them”.
Harris Garrard Academy and Harris Academy Greenwich, run by the Harris Federation, also rebutted data which suggested that they had a 25-hour school week.
A federation spokesperson said that both schools were “fully compliant” and it “appears that [the schools] submitted incorrect data to the DfE”. This was now being corrected.
Data for Equals Trust showed seven of its 15 schools were below target. But a trust spokesperson said the figures had been “captured incorrectly between the DfE and the MIS”.
They added: “The school census is a task our office staff take great care in completing and it is disappointing that the information passed between the two is not reflective of our individual schools.
“Our school websites show the times of the school day and hope that parents find these accessible and informative.”
Schools rectifying errors
Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust said it had also identified a data processing error after 22 out of its 25 schools were recorded as operating below the target.
Maltby Learning Trust and Truro and Penwith Academy Trust also admitted to data synchronicity issues but said it did not know how it had happened.
Individual schools flagged further concerns with the data when approached by Schools Week.
Stoke Park Primary School in Bristol, which was recorded as being open for just eight hours, said the data was wrong as did Haverley Hay Community School in Manchester, run by Children of Success School Trust, which was recorded as being open for 8.5 hours.
At the other end of the spectrum, Oaklands School in Medway was recorded as being open for 52.5 hours a week.
A spokesperson said this was also incorrect and they were rectifying the figures with the DfE.
‘Overwhelming majority’ meet target
Pepe Di’lasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders said: “We wouldn’t be surprised if the 16 per cent figure is inaccurate, as it has always been the case that the overwhelming majority of schools operate for at least 32.5 hours.
“This was true even before the non-statutory guidance was brought in, and it is unclear why this fairly minor issue has received so much government attention.”
The DfE was approached for comment about the data issues, and whether it is investigating schools that appeared to be operating below the 32.5 hour week.
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