Parents, teachers and others are to be asked their views on shortening the school summer holiday in Wales in the next year. Education Minister Jeremy Miles said a formal public consultation will be held in the 2023-24 academic year to see what support there is for changing holiday and half term dates.
Reforming the school year is one of the commitments in the Welsh Government's manifesto, which argues that the current calendar of three school terms was designed 150 years ago in a very different era when children were needed to help with agricultural work in the summer.
Speaking in a wide-ranging interview with WalesOnline, Mr Miles said that the Welsh Government was going to press ahead with a consultation. He said no changes would come in time for next year so the traditional six week summer holiday would continue at least into 2024, he said. It is also unclear whether any law would have to be changed to implement the reforms, which might hold them up.
Previous informal research, commissioned by the Welsh Government and published last year, showed most people were happy with the school year as it is. But Beaufort Research, which carried out that survey, said people were “open” to change when shown possible alternatives for the school year.
Speaking to WalesOnline, Mr Miles said: “We have a commitment to explore changes to the school year dates through public consultation. Discussions we have had are gauging support for the idea.
