Break time is an integral part of the school day – the chance to make friends, develop social skills and get fresh air and exercise.
But a new study by academics at the UCL Institute of Education has found that children aged 11 to 16 now have 65 minutes less break time per week than pupils of the same age had in 1995.
The researchers also discovered that only one per cent of today’s secondary schools have an afternoon break, compared to 13 per cent in 1995.
Lunch breaks have been cut down too. In 1995 only a third of secondary schools had lunch breaks of less than 55 minutes. Today that figure has risen to 82 per cent. A quarter of today’s secondary schools reported that they have lunch breaks of 35 minutes or less.
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