The Education (School Day and School Year) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 / Rheoliadau Addysg (Y Diwrnod Ysgol a’r Flwyddyn Ysgol) (Cymru) (Diwygio) 2026

Explanatory note

Reproduced verbatim from the instrument as published on legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). The note is prepared by the responsible government department and is not part of the instrument itself.

The Education (School Day and School Year) (Wales) Regulations 2003 (“ the 2003 Regulations ”) make provision about the length of the school day and school year. The 2003 Regulations provide that the school day is ordinarily divided into two sessions with a break in the middle, and for schools to meet for at least 380 sessions during any school year.

These Regulations amend paragraph (2) of regulation 4 of the 2003 Regulations to provide that there will be at least 390 school sessions during any school year (regulation 2(2)).

These Regulations also substitute regulation 5 of the 2003 Regulations to provide that 12 school sessions in a school year will count as sessions on which the school has met and those sessions must be used for the purposes prescribed (regulation 2(3)).

These Regulations omit regulation 7 of the 2003 Regulations (regulation 2(4)).

The Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, a regulatory impact assessment has been prepared as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations. A copy can be obtained from the Leadership Branch, School Practitioner Division, Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ.