Extending school time involves increasing allocated learning time in school for some or all pupils. School time can be extended in various ways, including:
- Targeted before- and after-school programmes (including small group or one to one tuition);
- Lengthening the school day;
- Providing schooling over the weekend; and
- Increasing the number of days in the school year or providing year-round schooling.
While enrichment activities may be beneficial for their own sake, the studies in this strand focus on extending school time with learning activities. The academic activities in this evidence base are sometimes combined with other non-academic activities.
Extending school time might lead to improved attainment through additional learning hours providing pupils with more exposure to teaching, more time to engage with content, and generally more learning.
Other approaches to increasing learning time are included in other strands of the Toolkit, such as homework, and summer schools. Breakfast clubs or one-off extended learning opportunities (such as school trips) are not included in this strand.
1. Programmes that extend school time have a positive impact on average but are expensive and may not be cost-effective for schools to implement. Schools will also need to consider the workload and wellbeing of their staff.
2. Planning to get the most from any extra time is important. It should meet pupils’ needs and build on their capabilities. Where pupils attend voluntarily, it can be helpful to monitor attendance to ensure that the pupils who need additional support are benefitting.
3. When rolling out any new approach, promoting buy-in from pupils, parents and staff is a key consideration. This is especially relevant for extending school time using before- and after-school programmes, where attracting and retaining pupils can be challenging.
4. When extending school time, it is important to acknowledge that scheduled learning time does not always translate into actual learning time. What seems to matter most is how extra time is used – not how much is added. Evidence does not suggest that simply increasing school hours leads to better attainment.
5. Optional additional time runs the risk of not engaging all groups. There is some evidence that combining academic learning with other types of activity, such as physical, cultural/artistic, vocational or social activities, can increase outcomes for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The average progress figure of 3 months over a school year suggests this approach can be effective. However, while the impact on academic attainment is, on average, positive, the cost of extending school time might mean that it is not a cost-effective approach to implement at the school level without additional funding. The impact is also slightly lower when school time is extended in secondary school.
Evidence suggests that there is not a clear relationship between the amount of additional time and its impact on attainment. Schools should consider how to ensure additional time benefits learning. There are a small number of examples where adding large amounts of additional time decreases results for pupils who are socioeconomically disadvantaged or struggling academically. It may be that extreme increases in time have diminishing effects if the engagement of pupils is reduced.
Some wider research evidence suggests that participation in enrichment activities is associated with progression to higher education and being in employment.
More studies have been undertaken in primary schools. Impacts are greater for pupils in primary schools (+4 months) than those in secondary schools (+2 months).
Providing before- and after-school programmes are more common than other approaches to extending school time. These are usually supported by qualified teaching staff.
Extending school time has a comparable effect on both mathematics and literacy outcomes.
Extending school time with additional teaching appears equally effective when delivered to small or large groups of pupils. However, there is a strong evidence base for one to one and small group tuition that these approaches can be effective in their own right.
Most studies have been conducted in the USA – this could pose a risk to the transferability of findings, as impacts may be influenced by the average length of education in any given context.
To increase the likelihood of additional school time benefitting disadvantaged pupils, school leaders should consider how to secure engagement and attendance among those from disadvantaged backgrounds. It is possible that if targeted tuition or enrichment activities are offered universally, those who could benefit the most would be the least likely participate or engage. Adopting a more targeted approach also has its challenges though, as selected pupils may feel singled out and stigmatised.
Sometimes, additional activities delivered alongside academic intervention seem to have positive results on outcomes.
Examples from the evidence base of enrichment used alongside academic activities include:
- Physical activities: sports, fitness, dance;
- Cultural or artistic activities: music, arts and crafts, drama;
- Vocational activities: computer skills, careers, entrepreneurship; and
- Social activities: games, groupwork.
When extending school time, it is important to acknowledge that scheduled learning time does not always translate into actual learning time. In fact, research evidence also suggests that there is not a relationship between the amount of time added and the resulting impact on attainment. The quality of the extra time appears more important than the quantity of extra time.
To help make the best use of extra time, schools should:
- Carefully monitor attendance to ensure that capacity and resources are being used effectively and that pupils who need the most support can benefit;
- Carefully consider and monitor pupil engagement – if more time is spent managing pupil behaviour during additional learning time, then engaged learning time may not increase;
- Monitor staff workload to ensure that additional teaching time does not reduce quality (e.g. through less time for professional development or planning lessons) or have a negative effect on staff wellbeing; and
- Consider how to promote buy-in from pupils, parents and staff, since attracting and retaining pupils in before and after school programmes can be challenging.
Extending school time is likely to require a significant reconfiguration of working patterns for staff, especially if this involves an altered school calendar. It is important school leaders are clear on the purpose of introducing additional learning time.
Approaches to extending school time are likely to be spread over an academic year. Some schools may also target additional support at specific classes or pupils during particular school terms or times of the year.
If no additional staff are recruited to cover extended school time, then implementing this approach will require significantly more staff time than other Toolkit strands. Staff already working at a school have good knowledge of their curriculum and their pupils, but this should be balanced with the impact on existing staff.
When introducing new approaches, schools should consider implementation. For more information see A School’s Guide to Implementation.
Overall, costs are estimated as moderate. However, without additional funding, programmes that extend school time can be expensive and may not be cost-effective for schools to implement. The basic cost of teaching a pupil is about £3120 a year (£16 per day) in primary school and about £4,680 a year (£25 per day) in secondary. Extending the school year by two weeks would therefore require about £160 per pupil per year for primary schools and about £250 per pupil per year for secondary. Estimates suggest after-school clubs cost, on average, £7 per session per pupil. Extrapolating this, one weekly session of extra learning could therefore cost £273 per pupil over the course of a 39-week school year. Extending school time can also involve additional costs other than staffing, such as providing transportation for pupils.
The security of the research evidence around extending school time is rated as moderate. 92 studies were identified that meet the inclusion criteria of the Toolkit. Overall, the topic lost an additional padlock because a large percentage of the studies are not randomised controlled trials. While other study designs still give important information about effectiveness of approaches, there is a risk that results are influenced by unknown factors that are not part of the intervention.
As with any evidence review, the Toolkit summarises the average impact of approaches when researched in academic studies. It is important to consider your context and apply your professional judgement when implementing an approach in your setting.
Have any questions?
The Teaching and Learning Toolkit is a living resource that is updated as new evidence is published. As we continue to update the Toolkit we are interested in your questions about this topic area for future content.
The evidence synthesis team will review submitted questions and, where possible, provide answers in future updates.
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