Hampshire students will retain their six-week summer holiday in the 2029-30 break, despite calls from one school for it to be reduced.

The school, which was not named in council papers, called for the traditional break to be cut to four weeks, saying: “Children do not require a six-week break from school.”

School calendar for the 2029/30 year.
School calendar for the 2029/30 year. (HCC)

Council officers said the authority will not be changing the structure of the school year, despite neighbouring councils considering shorter summer breaks and longer half-term holidays.

Any potential changes will be reviewed after the current local government reorganisation is complete.

The school year will begin on Monday, September 3, 2029, and end on Wednesday, July 24, 2030, covering 190 teaching days.

The Joint Council for Qualifications has confirmed that GCSE and A-level exams will not take place during the late Spring Bank Holiday week in May.

Under the approved schedule:

The Autumn term runs from September 3 to December 21, 2029.

The Spring term runs from January 7 to April 5, 2030.

The Summer term runs from April 23 to July 23, 2030.

All schools in Hampshire were invited to comment on the proposed dates, with four responses received.

One school called for the summer holiday to be cut to four weeks in August, suggesting that the extra time could instead be used to extend the October and May half-term breaks to two weeks each.

The school said: “Children do not require a six-week break from school. I understand that historically this was put in place to support the harvest.

“However, children do not now require this length of time away from school. Children thrive on routine and systems.

“Six weeks also impacts their learning significantly and a huge amount of children regress following a summer holiday. A shorter break would reduce children forgetting.”

At his decision day meeting on October 20, Cllr Steve Forster, the county council’s cabinet member for education, said the dates struck a necessary balance.

Cllr Forster said: “I’m sure this is not an easy one since regrettably we can’t move Christmas and Easter into some other days, which means we have to work around them.

“It is a delicate balancing act when you’ve got the needs of parents teaching staff the unions in so many others to come up with the right dates, but at least this gives plenty of notice, so people can plan properly and that we end up delivering the best teaching solution for our children.”