Break time cuts could be harming children’s development

School break times have been getting shorter over the past two decades, as teachers try to pack more lessons into the day, a long-term study suggests.

Infants in England had 45 minutes less break time a week than in 1995 and secondary pupils had lost 65 minutes over the same period, the University College London team found.

Vivian Hill, an educational psychologist from University College London, says break times make students "much better able to focus, attend and concentrate".