Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a later start time to the school day; and what research his Department holds on that matter.

The decision on when to start the school day lies with individual schools.

The Government has given all schools the ability to set their own school hours. 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. Guidance on the school day and the school year is available within the Department’s guidance on school attendance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-attendance.

The Department has not made an assessment of the decisions taken by individual schools. We trust schools to decide how best to structure their school day to support their pupils’ education.

Schools should organise the school day and school week in the best interest of their pupil cohort, to provide them with a full-time education suitable to their age, aptitude, and ability.