The UK government is considering measures to introduce more flexible working arrangements for teachers, including the possibility of a four-day working week, while maintaining a full five-day school week. Education Secretary Lucy Powell has requested advice from the School Teachers’ Review Body on how to amend existing requirements that full-time teachers work 195 days per year.

Currently, council-run schools must adhere to this 195-day framework, which includes 190 days of pupil attendance and five staff training days. Under the proposed changes, teachers could complete their contracted hours over fewer days, potentially allowing for four-day working weeks. However, schools would still be required to provide lessons throughout the full five-day week, and teachers would not be granted an automatic right to work fewer days.

In a letter to Mike Aldred, chairman of the School Teachers’ Review Body, Powell acknowledged “ambiguity” in the current regulations about offering flexibility in individual teacher working patterns. She proposed a targeted amendment designed to give school leaders greater discretion to depart from the traditional 195-day requirement, responding to evolving workforce needs. Despite this, Powell emphasized that full-time teachers should not be required to be available for more than 195 days annually, and that the cap on directed time—set at 1,265 hours, covering lessons, meetings, and other duties assigned by school leadership—would remain unchanged. This cap excludes time spent on tasks such as marking and lesson preparation, which teachers typically conduct outside directed hours.

The proposed reforms come amid ongoing efforts to address teacher recruitment and retention challenges. The School Teachers’ Review Body’s 2025 report suggested various flexible working models, including four-day weeks, nine-day fortnights, job shares, and remote working for planning and preparation as potential strategies to improve workforce conditions.

In addition to adjustments in working patterns, the government is exploring changes to teachers’ pay structures. Officials are considering lifting salary caps to allow schools greater flexibility in offering competitive pay, aiming to attract and retain experienced staff. Powell indicated that, while existing national pay scales should remain a benchmark, some schools might benefit from the ability to pay above these ranges. The review body has also been asked to evaluate whether existing allowances for head teachers to earn up to 25 percent above their pay group's maximum—and more in exceptional cases—are adequate, and whether similar flexibility should extend to deputy and assistant head teachers.

The government also plans to establish a statutory minimum salary for teachers in academies, which currently operate with more varied salary structures than council-maintained schools. Academies have already been permitted to adopt more flexible working arrangements, unlike most maintained schools.

A government source emphasized that there would be no change to the existing five-day school week for pupils and that the goal of these changes is to align council-maintained schools’ working conditions more closely with those of academies. The School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendations are expected by April next year, with any approved changes potentially implemented from September.