Proposed Changes to School Day: Consultation
We are proposing a change to the school day timings. This consultation provides full details on the new schedule and the rationale behind the proposal. We encourage all parents and carers to review the information, including the ‘frequently asked questions’ section below, and express your views or raise questions by completing the consultation responses form at the bottom of this page. The deadline for responses is Friday 27 March 2026.
What?
The proposed school day would run from 8:25 am to 3:10 pm, incorporating five one-hour lessons instead of the current seven 45-minute lessons.
When?
The new timings are proposed to take effect from September 2028, aligning with the intended date for a revised National Curriculum.
Why?
We are aiming to ensure student success with the forthcoming curriculum reforms, enable greater flexibility, and improve the efficiency of the day.
Consultation Letter
The Consultation Letter (March 2026) can be viewed here.
Structure of the school day
- Activity / Time (Current Model)
- Students Arrive on School Premises: 8.25 am
- Tutor Time: 8.30 am – 8.45 am
- Period 1: 8.45 am – 9.30 am
- Period 2: 9.30 am – 10.15 am
- Period 3: 10.15 am – 11.00 am
- Break: 11.00 am – 11.25 am
- Period 4: 11.25 am – 12.10 pm
- Period 5: 12.10 pm – 12.55 pm
- Lunch: 12.55 pm – 1.55 pm
- Period 6: 1.55 pm – 2.40 pm
- Period 7: 2.40 pm – 3.25 pm
- Activity / Time (Proposed Model)
- Students Arrive on School Premises: 8.25 am
- Tutor Time: 8.30 am – 8.50 am
- Period 1: 8.50 am – 9.50 am
- Period 2: 9.50 am – 10.50 am
- Break: 10.50 am – 11.15 am
- Period 3: 11.15 am – 12.15 pm
- Period 4: 12.15 pm – 1.15pm
- Lunch: 1.15 pm – 2.10pm
- Period 5: 2.10 pm – 3.10 pm
- Period 6: 1.55 pm – 2.40 pm
- Period 7: 2.40 pm – 3.25 pm
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why are you proposing a change to the timings of the school day?
It is a good time to consider making reforms to the structure of our curriculum and timetable, because there is going to be significant national change taking place over the next few years, as the Department for Education’s response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review is implemented. We want to ensure our students are ideally placed to thrive as the national context develops. The number of Key Stage 4 qualifications entered by Beaumont students is noticeably higher than average for Hertfordshire, and even more so for the country as a whole. We do not wish to lose the option for students to enter ten GCSEs, but we know that many students find the load heavy, so this is an opportunity to focus on quality rather than quantity.
We can also see considerable advantages to moving to a five period day. This is the most common model used nationally, including by other highly successful schools in our locality. Making a change would reduce the number of lesson transitions, leading to more efficient use of time, with less of it spent moving around the school. We are also mindful that the pace of a seven-period day can be challenging for students and staff alike.
That said, Beaumont is a highly successful school under our current model, and we would be very cautious about making a significant change like this unless there were other factors at play. The state of school finances nationally adds considerable weight to the case for change, because our curriculum is an expensive one and is not sustainable for many more years in the current economic climate.
2. Why are you proposing changing in September 2028 rather than sooner?
We have chosen September 2028 as the best date for change because it is when the revised National Curriculum will be implemented, following the Curriculum and Assessment Review’s recommendations. This will mean that what we teach has to change at that point, so it makes sense to coincide it with a switch to a five-period day. If we change at a different time, it will mean disrupting things twice, which would not be our preference for either students or teachers.
We must bear in mind, however, that a continuing worsening of the financial situation may make it impossible to maintain the status quo until September 2028. We want to avoid doing anything in haste, but this would force our hand to make a change sooner. If this happens, we will do all we can to make the change as smooth as possible and support our staff and students through it.
3. How many lessons will there be per day under the new model?
We propose a change to five lessons per day.
4. How long will lessons last under the new model?
We propose that each lesson will last for one hour. Double lessons will be unusual under the new model, and will only be allocated to subjects if the department requests them and if they are possible to timetable.
5. Will there be a move to a two-week timetable?
Under the new model it will be necessary to have a two-week timetable in order to maintain the flexibility required to keep the curriculum broad. However the plan would be for the two weeks to be as similar as possible to each other, with minimal differences. At Key Stage 3 this would only affect History and Geography, but at Key Stage 4 other subjects will be affected.
6. When will school finish each day?
We propose a daily finish time of 3:10pm (with no change to the start time). This will make it an earlier finish than currently on Monday-Thursday but unfortunately it will not be possible to maintain the earlier finish on Fridays. Overall, this does mean a reduction of required time at school by 30 minutes per week.
7. How long will the lunch break be?
We propose a lunch break of 55 minutes, which would still allow time to eat and for lunchtime clubs and activities to take place.
8. Will the curriculum stay the same at Key Stage 3?
We propose a very similar curriculum to the one currently studied at Key Stage 3, with the subjects taught remaining the same, in accordance with the National Curriculum. The changes to the timings of lessons will necessitate some changes to the exact amount of time allocated to each subject. As a result, some subjects will get slightly more time and others slightly less, but we are seeking to avoid excessive disruption to our current, highly successful curriculum. The precise changes for each department will be published in due course.
We propose to introduce students to one foreign language in Year 7, increasing to two in Year 8, before students can opt to continue with two or select one in Year 9. The specific languages to be taught in each year group remain to be determined.
9. Will the curriculum stay the same at Key Stage 4?
Our intention is to maintain the rigour, breadth and balance which we currently offer at Key Stage 4, while ensuring that we preserve a good range of options so that all students can ‘enjoy and excel’ at Beaumont. Our current offer is highly successful and will need little adaptation in order to meet the requirements of the DfE’s new Progress 8 framework, so we propose to maintain the expectation that the core examined subjects of English, Maths and Science are supplemented by a humanity, and a language for the vast majority. We anticipate our strong suite of options subjects remaining as it is now.
One key change is that our ‘default’ number of GCSEs (or alternatives) entered will reduce from ten to nine, which we see as a positive move because ten is noticeably higher than average for both Hertfordshire and the country as a whole, and puts a considerable burden on students. However, we recognise that many students are able to take ten qualifications and still thrive, so we propose to maintain this possibility. We will achieve this by including Triple Science within the core Science time allocation, rather than treating it as an additional option, as it is at present.
We also recognise that nine GCSEs are still too much for some students, and we want to make our curriculum as inclusive as possible in a mainstream school. Therefore we propose to provide a route which involves eight entries and we will engage directly with the students who we feel would benefit from this approach and with their parents/carers.
We are mindful that reducing the ‘default’ number of qualifications makes it a more competitive environment for options subjects. We have no desire to cut subjects, and we have carried out modelling based on students’ current preferences, which gives us cause for confidence that we will not need to do so. This is possible in part because we propose to move Triple Science to the core section of the curriculum, freeing up an option for other subjects.
There will have to be some changes to the amount of time allocated to core subjects, but options subjects will receive the same amount of time.
10. Will the curriculum stay the same at Key Stage 5?
We do not see any need to alter the impressive range of subjects available at Key Stage 5, and the change to the timings of the school day will bring us closer into line with our partner schools in the BeauSandVer Consortium, so our offer will continue to be supplemented by the possibility of taking a subject at Sandringham or Verulam.
We propose that the amount of time allocated to each qualification at Key Stage 5 should remain the same, although the time will have to be divided unevenly between Years 12 and 13. At the moment we are looking at five hours per week in each subject in Year 12 and four hours in Year 13. This would mean no study lessons in Year 12 and one per week for each subject in Year 13.
11. How confident are you that the changes will not lead to a reduction in standards at the school?
We have devoted considerable time and attention to researching the best model for Beaumont before making a public proposal. We know that the five-period day with one hour lessons is the most popular timetable for schools nationally, and that most local schools use it too, including highly successful ones. We see considerable advantages which it will bring (e.g. fewer lesson transitions meaning more time in class and less moving around school).
We have given careful consideration to the DfE’s planned changes to national assessment and performance measures and have planned our curriculum with them in mind, so we will be putting our students in the best possible position to continue getting the great results we are so proud of at present. We see the proposed reduction for most students from ten GCSEs (or equivalent) to nine at Key Stage 4 as a positive step, reducing pressure and enabling them to focus on quality rather than quantity.
That said, we know that even evidence-informed change can be disruptive, and so we are proceeding with great care, which is why we do not propose to change things with undue haste. Our proposed date of September 2028 will allow sufficient time for our departments to prepare, taking into account the requirements of the new National Curriculum, and will mean that we can anticipate the challenges and plan for them in advance. We have every confidence that Beaumont will continue to be well-led throughout this process and that we will be able to maintain and even build on our current success.
12. How can you expect students to continue to do well when they have less time in school?
The reduction in school time under our proposed model will be small, amounting to thirty minutes over the course of a week. We recognise that it may worry some people, but we are confident that our students will continue to get great outcomes. We will still be providing them with more time in school than the DfE requires and the new timings will be more efficient for learning, maximising time in lessons and spending less of it moving between them. In fact, when we take into account how we are structuring the timetable within each day and week, there will be no reduction in lesson time at all. We will also be expecting most students to take one fewer GCSE (or equivalent), so they will have proportionally more time to excel in the subjects they are taking.
In deciding on our proposed timings, we have taken account of the hours followed at other local schools and ensured that the hours at Beaumont will be at least as long as the school day at all other state secondaries in St Albans.
