THE WELSH Government is proposing to take a week off the school summer holidays and stick it onto the Autumn half-term.

A consultation opens Tuesday, November 21, on spreading the school calendar more evenly.

Under the proposal, a week would be taken from the start of the summer holidays and added to the October half-term.

After the current six-week summer, teachers spend crucial time recapping rather than advancing, the Welsh Government has said. Teachers also report more behavioural and wellbeing issues after the break.

Teachers and pupils would still get 13 weeks of break.

The proposals would fix the spring break to a constant midpoint, separating it from the irregular Easter dates. Easter Monday and Good Friday public holidays would still apply.

Authorities in Isle of Wight and Nottingham already use a two-week October break, while school calendars in Sheffield and Leeds have fixed Easters.

The changes would be made from September 2025, meaning schools in Wales could get a two-week holiday in October 2025 and a five-week summer holiday in 2026.

The consultation will also explore changes that could be made in the future, such as taking another week from the summer and adding it to the Whitsun break. In this case, GCSE and A Level results days could happen in the same week.

Jeremy Miles, minister for Education and Welsh language, said: “The long summer break can be a real strain. Families struggle to find childcare over the six weeks, and others struggle with the additional costs long summers bring.

“We know our most disadvantaged learners suffer the most ‘learning loss’ from a long summer.

“We want to make sure education works best for pupils, teachers and families. We’re looking for people’s views on these changes and what it would mean for them.”

Considering changes to the schoolyear calendar is part of the Co-Operation Agreement with Plaid Cymru.