Another country is piloting a four-day school week. Here’s how it will work
How Scotland’s four-day school week trial would work
- The Scottish government has announced plans to pilot a four-day school week to address growing concerns about teacher supply and wellbeing.
- This proposal differs from a 'true' four-day week as it redistributes teachers' existing hours, allowing planning and assessment time to be completed off-site, rather than reducing overall working hours.
- Research suggests that while models without reduced hours can lead to high work intensity, the key factor contributing to teacher stress is high classroom contact time, not statutory working hours.
- Consequently, the Scottish pilot aims to reduce the intensity of classroom contact time, which could potentially improve teacher wellbeing and retention.
- The pilot offers a vital opportunity to generate robust evidence on the impact of such flexible working models, as existing research on four-day school weeks in education is currently limited.