Education Secretary Lucy Powell has proposed allowing teachers in England to work four-day weeks, a plan that has drawn both support and criticism from the education sector.
Under the government proposals, teachers could complete their contracted hours over fewer days, potentially working four longer days instead of being available across the standard five-day week. In England, full-time teachers in state schools are currently required to be available for work for a maximum of 1,265 hours over 195 days of the academic year, which includes 190 student days and five training days.
Flexibility for schools and teachers
On the fifth day, other teachers would be allocated to cover classes. Teachers would still work the same number of hours, and schools would continue to provide teaching five days a week.
Powell outlined the plan in a letter to Dr Mike Aldred, chairman of the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB), an advisory body. In the letter, she said the intention was “to provide leaders with greater flexibility to choose to depart from the 195-day requirement to respond to evolving workforce need”.
She added that the change “must not affect pupil time in schools” and that teachers should not be required to work more than 195 days. The proposal follows a 2025 report which identified flexible working as a “prominent factor” in teachers’ decisions to stay in post or leave.
Mixed reactions from school leaders
The proposals have faced criticism from some in the sector. Emily May, executive headteacher of Willingdon Community School in East Sussex, said it would be hard to make the changes work in practice.
She told the BBC: “I’m not sure that it’s a child-centric decision. Where the government is putting a lot of pressure on schools to improve attendance, what implicit message are we sending society that students still need to be in for five days but staff will only need to be in for four? That does concern me when persistent absenteeism has doubled since Covid.”
However, Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), supports the idea. He told the BBC: “For the past decade, we’ve seen recruitment targets not met and crucially seen over a quarter of the workforce leaving the profession within the first four years. Something clearly needs to change.”
He added: “At a time when so many jobs seem under threat from AI, we want teaching to be seen as very attractive, and we want to be able to attract the brightest and the best graduates to these jobs. We need to do something different and I think this is a good start at that.”
Powell took on the role of Education Secretary following a cabinet reshuffle.
