This page is about schools in England. It does not cover Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
How many school days are there in a year?
Maintained schools must hold at least 380 sessions in a school year — normally 190 days, with two sessions each day. The Education (School Day and School Year) (England) Regulations 1999 set the requirement: regulation 2 defines the schools covered and regulation 3(1)–(2) sets the sessions. The regulations also cover special schools not maintained by a local authority. The minimum session count does not apply to a nursery class. DfE also excludes pupil referral units from these regulations (school-week guidance, page 5).
The legal school year runs from the first school term beginning after July to the beginning of the first such term after the following July (regulation 2). Count sessions across that school year when drawing up the calendar.
Academies: the trust is responsible for the length of the school day and year under its funding agreement. The maintained-school rules do not apply automatically to mainstream academies. DfE's school-week guidance explains this on page 5; its academy governance guide, section 7.13, states that special academies are subject to the 380-session requirement. Use the school's funding agreement when setting its calendar.
What are INSET days?
INSET days are the non-teaching days used for staff training and professional development. The STPCD 2026 describes them as non-teaching days, often called INSET days (Section 3, paragraph 92).
The STPCD 2025 requires a covered full-time teacher to be available for 195 days: 190 days on which teaching pupils and other duties may be required, and 5 days on which only other duties may be required (Section 2, paragraph 51.2). The published 2026 STPCD retains that framework and specifies 5 days, or the equivalent of 5 days, for other duties only. The employer specifies the days, or directs the headteacher to do so (2026 Section 2, paragraph 52.2).
The 2026 document expressly allows the non-teaching days to be delivered through equivalent time, such as twilight sessions or half days. It retains the five-day equivalent and the existing workload protections. Schools considering a change to how these days are organised are expected to consult affected teachers and recognised unions and engage parents and carers as appropriate (Section 3, paragraphs 92–96).
The teacher working-day framework and the pupil-session requirement are separate. Do not count an ordinary staff-only INSET session as a session of pupil education towards the maintained school's minimum (regulation 3(2); STPCD Section 2, paragraph 52.2).
Teacher working days and directed time
Both editions retain 1,265 hours of directed time for a covered full-time teacher, allocated reasonably across the required working days; part-time teachers have a proportionate allowance (2025 Section 2, paragraphs 51.5–51.6; 2026 Section 2, paragraphs 52.5–52.6). Use the pay and directed-time guide for the detailed rules and calculator, and the workload guide when planning meetings and other duties.
These provisions do not set a headteacher's working-year or hours limit. The exclusions include headteachers, deputy and assistant headteachers, leading practitioners and the other leadership-related posts listed in 2026 Section 2, paragraph 52.4 (2025 paragraph 51.4). The 2026 paragraph 52.3 (2025 paragraph 51.3) separately excludes full-time teachers employed wholly or mainly in relation to pupils in a residential establishment from the working-day rule. The STPCD applies to local-authority-maintained schools in England (Section 1, paragraph 2); academy employment terms need to be considered separately.
Who sets school term dates?
- Community, voluntary controlled and community special schools, and maintained nursery schools: the local authority sets term dates as employer (school-week guidance, page 5).
- Foundation, foundation special and voluntary aided schools: the governing body sets term and holiday dates (maintained governance guide, section 7.14).
- Academies and free schools: the trust sets the calendar under its funding agreement. The trust board is responsible for the length and structure of the school day and week; in a multi-academy trust this may be delegated to a local committee under the scheme of delegation. Special academies remain subject to the session requirement described above (school-week guidance, pages 5–6; academy governance guide, section 7.13).
Term and holiday dates are distinct from the dates when staff are required to work. Set the teacher working days through the employer or its direction to the headteacher, as set out in STPCD Section 2, paragraph 52.2.
Setting the school calendar
Use the headteacher role page, school business manager role page and governor role page alongside the responsibilities above. Before agreeing the calendar:
- Count the pupil sessions across the legal school year and identify the body responsible for term dates.
- Set staff working days and any equivalent INSET time separately from pupil attendance days.
- Calculate the core school week from registration to compulsory home time, including breaks.
- Record how closures affect the session count and whether alternative sessions are reasonably practicable.
For interview preparation, use the headteacher interview guide. Organise term planning with the Headteacher Planner®.
Is the 32.5-hour school week a legal requirement?
It is a non-statutory DfE expectation. DfE expects all mainstream, state-funded schools to deliver a core school week of at least 32.5 hours, with a deadline of September 2024 at the latest. The expectation was announced on 28 March 2022; the July 2023 guidance records the deferred deadline (pages 3–4). It is separate from the legal session requirement.
Count from morning registration to the official end of the compulsory school day. Include lunch, other breaks and enrichment activities that all pupils are expected to attend. Optional before- or after-school provision does not count (page 4).
The expectation does not apply to early years, 16–19 provision including school sixth forms, or specialist settings such as special schools and alternative provision. Specialist settings should consider a longer week where it benefits their pupils. Special units within mainstream schools and pupils with SEND in mainstream settings should follow the mainstream school's week (pages 4 and 8).
School closures: do sessions have to be made up?
For schools covered by the 1999 regulations, regulation 3(3) applies where the school is prevented from holding an intended session. If it is not reasonably practicable to arrange the session at an alternative time, the school is treated as having met as intended for the minimum-session rule.
A closure therefore does not automatically mean an extra day must be added, or that every lost session can simply be written off. Apply both conditions: the school was prevented from meeting, and alternative arrangements were not reasonably practicable. Keep the closure decision and the consideration of alternative sessions with the calendar records.
For an academy, apply the relevant funding-agreement provisions and the special-academy position above. Recording attendance is a separate task: use the attendance guide for register requirements and the code for a cancelled school session.
The rules and guidance
- The 1999 regulations, linked above: the session requirement and the exception where a school is prevented from meeting and replacement sessions are not reasonably practicable (regulations 2 and 3(1)–(3)).
- Length of the school week, July 2023, GOV.UK updated 17 July 2023: non-statutory guidance on the minimum week expectation, with the legal background on page 5.
- School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD), 2026, dated 14 October 2026 and marked valid from 1 September 2026, GOV.UK updated 16 October 2026: teacher working days and hours in Section 2, paragraphs 52.2–52.6, and guidance on organising INSET in Section 3, paragraphs 92–96. The 2026 Order comes into force on 6 November 2026, giving Section 2 effect from 1 September 2026 (articles 1–2). Until then, the 2025 Order remains in force; the 2025 STPCD is available on the same DfE page (2026 Order, article 3).
- Maintained schools: governance guide, GOV.UK updated 15 July 2026: section 7.14 covers the school week, year and responsibility for term dates.
- Academy trusts: governance guide, GOV.UK updated 20 July 2026: section 7.13 covers the school day and year and the trust board's responsibility.
