Rethinking the School Week: How a Four-Day Model Supports Student Success

Across the education sector, families, policymakers, and educators are searching for ways to help modern learners succeed in a world that is more demanding and competitive than ever. While teaching methods, and classroom environments are all important pieces of the puzzle, one consideration not widely being evaluated is the traditional five-day school week.

This structure has long been the accepted norm for both educational institutions and workplaces. But in 2025, the world students are graduating into is significantly different to the world they graduated into twenty or thirty years ago. Nowadays, higher education institutions and workplaces expect social and emotional intelligence just as much as they expect academic excellence. The problem is that these crucial life skills require more than just being taught in a traditional classroom setting, raising the question: how can we ensure students are getting the well-rounded education they need to be successful in our modern world?

The question we asked ourselves at Crimson Global Academy was: could the four-day school week fundamentally improve our student and teacher experience.

Growth Beyond the Classroom
The four-day school week is founded on the idea that much of a student’s learning happens outside of their textbooks. A reduced academic timetable is not a get-out-of-school free card. Instead, it’s a structured way to help young people pursue extracurricular passions, develop leadership skills, volunteer in their communities, or gain workplace experience. These opportunities don’t just polish a university application; they help build the confidence, resilience, and independence students need to thrive.

Upon hearing the term ‘four-day school week’, many people might assume that students will spend less time learning. In reality, the opposite is true. Concentrating lessons into four days can sharpen focus and reduce wasted time, while the additional day allows students to consolidate knowledge, extend their studies, and apply what they have learnt in real-world contexts.

Parents also report benefits, with many noticing a reduction in stress and burnout in their children when time is structured more flexibly. In fact, the rhythm of a four-day school week can even create opportunities for deeper family engagement and healthier school-life balance for both students and teachers.

These aren’t just theoretical benefits; this is what Crimson Global Academy (CGA) - an online-first school with over 2,000 students internationally - discovered when we switched to a four-day school week in Term 1 of this year. Following the change, a survey of students, parents, and teachers found that almost 90% of students felt more focused during lessons, while nearly 80% of parents reported reduced stress in their children. Teachers also reported optimism about the long-term benefits of the change, saying it offers the chance to deliver higher-quality lessons and more personalised support.

With lessons condensed into four days, many CGA students used their Fridays for independent projects, university preparation, and personal interests. And throughout it all, academic participation and outcomes remained strong, illustrating how a restructured week can unlock student agency without compromising academic progress.

Preparing Students for a World Beyond School
One of the most important arguments in favour of a four-day school week is that it prepares students for a rapidly changing social and economic world. In many industries, employers are experimenting with four-day working weeks themselves, while others are trialling flexible scheduling and hybrid models born from the recent revolutionary shift to remote working.
Schools that adopt similar approaches not only prepare young people for the practical realities of modern work but also model the adaptability they will need to thrive.

A reimagined timetable also sends a powerful signal: education is not just about covering curriculum content. It’s about developing the whole person. By carving out time for internships, volunteering, passion projects, and wellbeing activities, schools demonstrate that qualities such as creativity, empathy, and problem-solving are just as essential to success as test scores.

This is not to suggest that every school should or could immediately shift to a four-day week. Each community has unique circumstances, which means this will not be a one-size-fits-all solution. But the positive results from early adopters like CGA make clear that it’s worth exploring alternatives to the traditional five-day model.

The wider question is how schools can restructure time in ways that keep pace with student needs, technological change, and shifting expectations in higher education and work. The four-day week is one answer, but the broader principle is flexibility.

This is because education is strongest when it evolves with the world it serves. A four-day school week is not about cutting corners but about teaching smarter, ensuring students leave school not only academically accomplished but also confident, resilient, and future-ready.

The experience of schools like CGA shows that this is achievable, but the conversation now belongs to the broader sector. Policymakers, educators, and parents must ask what structures best equip our young people for success. If we are willing to rethink long-held models, we can build an education system that truly reflects the demands of modern life and unlocks the full potential of every student.