In 2019, the UCL Institute of Education published a study on how school breaktimes and young people’s social lives have changed over the past 25 years. The team compared data from over 1,000 primary and secondary schools in 2017 to data collected in 2006 and 1995. This was a follow-up to a 2005 study on the same topic, also funded by the Foundation.
Key findings
- School breaktimes are as much as an hour shorter than two decades ago, meaning that children are missing out on valuable opportunities to make friends, develop social skills and exercise.
- While adults, including teachers, have a right to breaks, there is no equivalent policy for pupils. The research team called for schools to review their breaktime policies and for policymakers to introduce a minimum breaktime for students.
- Pupils were overwhelmingly positive about taking breaks (particularly longer lunch breaks), with 87% of children saying they ‘liked’ or ‘really like’ them. Just 5% of children said they did not like break times.
The importance of play and breaktimes
The research generated widespread media coverage and a response from the Department for Education, which stated: “We are clear that pupils should be given an appropriate break and we expect school leaders to make sure this happens.” The findings prompted questions in both Houses of Parliament, with celebrities such as Fern Britton publicly supporting the importance of play and breaktimes. The British Psychological Society’s Division of Educational Psychologists made a statement in support of children’s right to play.
Campaigners championed the report’s recommendations, with a group of parents setting up a 38 Degrees petition to establish a minimum breaktime in schools. The All Party Parliamentary Group on a Fit and Healthy Childhood reviewed the research findings and recommended that:
The lunchtime period and its part in the encouragement of child mental health and well-being to be included in individual school development plans as an Ofsted requirement.”All Party Parliamentary Group on a Fit and Healthy Childhood
The research also inspired an international campaign, Outdoor Classroom Day, run by Semble and funded by Unilever, calling for every child to have at least 60 minutes of playtime every day and committing a small amount of funding to an international survey of school breaktimes.
The project is likely to inspire further research, with the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) prioritising research on the links between breaktimes and learning in class, as part of their School Choices funding stream. Following a presentation of the Nuffield-funded study, the International Play Association has made the prioritisation and promotion of breaktime one of their key aims.
Lead author, Dr Ed Baines (UCL Institute of Education) said: “Despite the length of the school day remaining much the same, breaktimes are being squeezed even further with potential serious implications for children’s well-being and development.
“Not only are break times an opportunity for children to get physical exercise – an issue of particular concern given the rise in obesity, but they provide valuable time to make friends and to develop important social skills – experiences that are not necessarily learned or taught in formal lessons.”
“School breaktime is the sort of issue that easily falls below the radar, but this research – spanning two decades – sheds light on a very worrying trend. As concern for the mental health and well-being of school children grows, break times have got shorter. Working adults are entitled to breaks to improve productivity so it is surprising school age children do not have equivalent rights. We hope that the report’s findings and recommendations will encourage policy makers to take action to ensure pupils have adequate breaks during the school day.”Josh Hillman, Director of Education at the Nuffield Foundation
