This petition was submitted during the 2017–2019 Conservative government
Petition School should start at 10am as teenagers are too tired
Teenagers are so tired due to having to wake up very early to get to school. The Government should require secondary schools to start later, which will lead to increased productivity at school.
This petition is closed This petition ran for 6 months
Parliament debated this topic
This topic was debated on 11 February 2019
Government responded
This response was given on 22 March 2019
The Department has no plans to require secondary schools to start later. The decision on when to start the school day lies with individual schools.
Read the response in full
The government has given all schools the ability to set their own school hours so all schools have the autonomy to make decisions about the content, structure and duration of their school day, including the flexibility to decide when their school day should start and finish. In light of this, the Department has no plans to require secondary schools to start later. We trust head teachers to decide how best to structure their school day to support their pupils’ education.
There are no specific legal requirements about how long the school day should be. Governing bodies of all maintained schools in England are responsible for deciding when morning and afternoon sessions should begin and end on each school day
Academy and free school funding agreements state that the duration of the school day is the responsibility of the academy trust. In the event that a school decides to make changes to its school day, it is our expectation that the school should consider the impact on those affected – including pupils, teachers, and parents’ work commitments and childcare options.
Department for Education.
This is a revised response. The Petitions Committee requested a response which more directly addressed the request of the petition. You can find the original response towards the bottom of the petition page (https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/229178)
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The Petitions Committee team
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Thanks to those of you who got in touch with us to tell us how you feel about school starting times. Over 5,000 people responded.
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Original Government response
The decision on when to start the school day lies with individual schools. All schools have the autonomy to make decisions about the content, structure and duration of their school day.
The government has given all schools the ability to set their own school hours so all schools have the autonomy to make decisions about the timetable and duration of their school day, including the flexibility to decide when their school day should start and finish.
The Department has not made an assessment of these decisions taken by individual schools. We trust head teachers to decide how best to structure their school day to support their pupils’ education.
There are no specific legal requirements about how long the school day should be. Governing bodies of all maintained schools in England are responsible for deciding when morning and afternoon sessions should begin and end on each school day. Governing bodies are also responsible for deciding the length of each lesson and the timings for the morning session, the midday break, and the afternoon session.
Academy and free school funding agreements state that the duration of the school day is the responsibility of the academy trust.
In the event that a school decides to make changes to its school day, it is our expectation that the school should act reasonably when making such decisions; giving parents notice and considering the impact on those affected – including pupils, teachers, and parents’ work commitments and childcare options.
Department for Education.
This response was given on 7 February 2019. The Petitions Committee then requested a revised response, that more directly addressed the request of the petition.