Schools testing 10 ‘o’ clock start times!

Calls have been made to push back starting times for students, especially those at GCSE age after research has shown that biological changes in adolescence can clash with traditional school hours leading to sleep loss.

According to the latest research into sleep and adolescence the school day should begin at 8:30am for 10-year-olds, 10am for 16-year-olds, and 11am for 18-year-olds and it has been reported that some schools are already looking into testing these findings out for themselves in order to increase their GCSE grades.

The researchers from Oxford University are currently recruiting 100 schools from around the UK to take part in what they are calling the ‘world’s largest randomised control trial.’

BBC News reports: ‘Our body clock is a daily cycle which drives the regular rise and fall of certain genes as well as the ebb and flow of our cognitive performance, our metabolism and so on. For much of our lives – and especially in adolescence – there is a mismatch between this rhythm and the typical working day. In fact, Dr Kelley said, the body clock of most people between age 10 and 55 is not well suited to rising early.

Do you think testing different start times for pupils is a good idea?

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