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The beginner's guide to primary-school homework

What’s the point of homework?

For many families, homework is a nightly battle, but primary schools set it for a variety of reasons. ‘It helps to consolidate the skills that are being taught at school, and provides children with additional revision opportunities,’ explains head teacher Steph Matthews of St Paul’s CofE School, Gloucester .

‘It also gives children an opportunity to explore learning in an unstructured setting, encouraging them to be independent and follow their own lines of enquiry.’ In addition, homework creates a partnership between school and family, giving parents an insight into what their child is learning.

How much homework should my child get in primary school?

In the past, the Department for Education advised that Key Stage 1 children should do an hour of homework each week, rising to half an hour per night in Key Stage 2. This advice was scrapped in 2012, giving schools more freedom, but many still follow the old guidelines.

In Reception , formal homework is rarely set. However, children are likely to bring home books to share with the family, first reading books, and/or keywords to learn.

In Years 1 and 2 , children are likely to have one or two tasks per week. This could be literacy or numeracy worksheets (for example an exercise where children have to compare the weights of different household items), a short piece of writing (such as a recount of a school trip) or work relating to the class topic (find out five facts about the Great Fire of London ).

In Years 3 and 4 , most schools set two homework activities each week: typically, one literacy (such as a worksheet on collective nouns, or a book review ) and one numeracy (a worksheet on bar charts).

In Years 5 and 6 , children may have two or three pieces of homework each week. ‘The amount begins to increase to prepare children for SATs and the transition to secondary school,’ says Steph. These activities might include maths worksheets, researching a topic, book reviews and grammar exercises.

Alongside formal homework tasks, most children bring home reading scheme books from Reception onwards, with weekly spellings and times tables from Year 1 or 2.

Learning logs and homework challenges

Not all schools rely on handing out worksheets. Learning logs or challenges are becoming more popular: children are given a folder of suggested activities – from writing a poem to building a model castle – and must choose a certain number to complete throughout the term.

Other schools ensure that homework ties in with the current class topic. ‘We have a themed approach, and set homework activities that give opportunities to explore the topic in a fun way, for example, designing a method of transport that Phileas Fogg could use to travel the world,’ explains Steph.  

Modern homework methods

Unsurprisingly, technology is playing an increasingly important part in homework. Some schools use online reading schemes such as Bug Club , where teachers allocate e-books of the appropriate level, or subscription services like SAM Learning  to set cross-curricular tasks.

A growing number also set homework electronically , with children logging into the school website to download their task.

What if the homework is too much – or too hard?

If you feel your child is overloaded with homework, speak to the teacher. ‘Forcing children to complete homework is counterproductive, because they come to perceive it as a chore,’ says Rod Grant, head teacher of Clifton Hall School, Edinburgh . ‘This makes learning appear boring, arduous or both, and that is really dangerous, in my view.’

Most schools publish their homework policy on the school website , telling parents exactly what to expect. ‘Teachers should make their expectations very clear in terms of deadlines and how long it should take, and should also differentiate tasks to suit the level of the pupil,’ adds Steph.

No homework at all?

If your child doesn’t get any homework, you may feel out of touch with his learning, or concerned that he isn’t being challenged. But there are good reasons why some schools don’t set homework, or set it only occasionally, says Rod. ‘Although homework can be beneficial, family life tends to suffer as a result of it being imposed,’ he explains. ‘ If a school isn’t providing homework, there’s plenty that parents can do at home instead : reading with their children, doing number puzzles on car journeys, using online resources, and so on.’

Parents may also worry that without doing homework, children won’t develop study habits for later life. ‘There is genuinely no need for a six-year-old to get into a routine of working at home; there’s time to learn that later,’ Rod advises. ‘Parents need to relax and encourage children to love learning – and that comes when learning is fun, relevant and engaging, not through doing homework tasks that are unchallenging, or secretarial in nature.’

Homework: advice and support for primary-school parents

For information and support on all aspects of homework, from managing other siblings to helping with specific subjects, head to our Homework area.

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What’s the Right Amount of Homework?

Decades of research show that homework has some benefits, especially for students in middle and high school—but there are risks to assigning too much.

Many teachers and parents believe that homework helps students build study skills and review concepts learned in class. Others see homework as disruptive and unnecessary, leading to burnout and turning kids off to school. Decades of research show that the issue is more nuanced and complex than most people think: Homework is beneficial, but only to a degree. Students in high school gain the most, while younger kids benefit much less.

The National PTA and the National Education Association support the “ 10-minute homework guideline ”—a nightly 10 minutes of homework per grade level. But many teachers and parents are quick to point out that what matters is the quality of the homework assigned and how well it meets students’ needs, not the amount of time spent on it.

The guideline doesn’t account for students who may need to spend more—or less—time on assignments. In class, teachers can make adjustments to support struggling students, but at home, an assignment that takes one student 30 minutes to complete may take another twice as much time—often for reasons beyond their control. And homework can widen the achievement gap, putting students from low-income households and students with learning disabilities at a disadvantage.

However, the 10-minute guideline is useful in setting a limit: When kids spend too much time on homework, there are real consequences to consider.

Small Benefits for Elementary Students

As young children begin school, the focus should be on cultivating a love of learning, and assigning too much homework can undermine that goal. And young students often don’t have the study skills to benefit fully from homework, so it may be a poor use of time (Cooper, 1989 ; Cooper et al., 2006 ; Marzano & Pickering, 2007 ). A more effective activity may be nightly reading, especially if parents are involved. The benefits of reading are clear: If students aren’t proficient readers by the end of third grade, they’re less likely to succeed academically and graduate from high school (Fiester, 2013 ).

For second-grade teacher Jacqueline Fiorentino, the minor benefits of homework did not outweigh the potential drawback of turning young children against school at an early age, so she experimented with dropping mandatory homework. “Something surprising happened: They started doing more work at home,” Fiorentino writes . “This inspiring group of 8-year-olds used their newfound free time to explore subjects and topics of interest to them.” She encouraged her students to read at home and offered optional homework to extend classroom lessons and help them review material.

Moderate Benefits for Middle School Students

As students mature and develop the study skills necessary to delve deeply into a topic—and to retain what they learn—they also benefit more from homework. Nightly assignments can help prepare them for scholarly work, and research shows that homework can have moderate benefits for middle school students (Cooper et al., 2006 ). Recent research also shows that online math homework, which can be designed to adapt to students’ levels of understanding, can significantly boost test scores (Roschelle et al., 2016 ).

There are risks to assigning too much, however: A 2015 study found that when middle school students were assigned more than 90 to 100 minutes of daily homework, their math and science test scores began to decline (Fernández-Alonso, Suárez-Álvarez, & Muñiz, 2015 ). Crossing that upper limit can drain student motivation and focus. The researchers recommend that “homework should present a certain level of challenge or difficulty, without being so challenging that it discourages effort.” Teachers should avoid low-effort, repetitive assignments, and assign homework “with the aim of instilling work habits and promoting autonomous, self-directed learning.”

In other words, it’s the quality of homework that matters, not the quantity. Brian Sztabnik, a veteran middle and high school English teacher, suggests that teachers take a step back and ask themselves these five questions :

• How long will it take to complete?
• Have all learners been considered?
• Will an assignment encourage future success?
• Will an assignment place material in a context the classroom cannot?
• Does an assignment offer support when a teacher is not there?

More Benefits for High School Students, but Risks as Well

By the time they reach high school, students should be well on their way to becoming independent learners, so homework does provide a boost to learning at this age, as long as it isn’t overwhelming (Cooper et al., 2006 ; Marzano & Pickering, 2007 ). When students spend too much time on homework—more than two hours each night—it takes up valuable time to rest and spend time with family and friends. A 2013 study found that high school students can experience serious mental and physical health problems, from higher stress levels to sleep deprivation, when assigned too much homework (Galloway, Conner, & Pope, 2013 ).

Homework in high school should always relate to the lesson and be doable without any assistance, and feedback should be clear and explicit.

Teachers should also keep in mind that not all students have equal opportunities to finish their homework at home, so incomplete homework may not be a true reflection of their learning—it may be more a result of issues they face outside of school. They may be hindered by issues such as lack of a quiet space at home, resources such as a computer or broadband connectivity, or parental support (OECD, 2014 ). In such cases, giving low homework scores may be unfair.

Since the quantities of time discussed here are totals, teachers in middle and high school should be aware of how much homework other teachers are assigning. It may seem reasonable to assign 30 minutes of daily homework, but across six subjects, that’s three hours—far above a reasonable amount even for a high school senior. Psychologist Maurice Elias sees this as a common mistake: Individual teachers create homework policies that in aggregate can overwhelm students. He suggests that teachers work together to develop a school-wide homework policy and make it a key topic of back-to-school night and the first parent-teacher conferences of the school year.

Parents Play a Key Role

Homework can be a powerful tool to help parents become more involved in their child’s learning (Walker et al., 2004 ). It can provide insights into a child’s strengths and interests, and can also encourage conversations about a child’s life at school. If a parent has positive attitudes toward homework, their children are more likely to share those same values, promoting academic success.

But it’s also possible for parents to be overbearing, putting too much emphasis on test scores or grades, which can be disruptive for children (Madjar, Shklar, & Moshe, 2015 ). Parents should avoid being overly intrusive or controlling—students report feeling less motivated to learn when they don’t have enough space and autonomy to do their homework (Orkin, May, & Wolf, 2017 ; Patall, Cooper, & Robinson, 2008 ; Silinskas & Kikas, 2017 ). So while homework can encourage parents to be more involved with their kids, it’s important to not make it a source of conflict.

How Much Homework Is Enough? Depends Who You Ask

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Editor’s note: This is an adapted excerpt from You, Your Child, and School: Navigate Your Way to the Best Education ( Viking)—the latest book by author and speaker Sir Ken Robinson (co-authored with Lou Aronica), published in March. For years, Robinson has been known for his radical work on rekindling creativity and passion in schools, including three bestselling books (also with Aronica) on the topic. His TED Talk “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” holds the record for the most-viewed TED talk of all time, with more than 50 million views. While Robinson’s latest book is geared toward parents, it also offers educators a window into the kinds of education concerns parents have for their children, including on the quality and quantity of homework.

The amount of homework young people are given varies a lot from school to school and from grade to grade. In some schools and grades, children have no homework at all. In others, they may have 18 hours or more of homework every week. In the United States, the accepted guideline, which is supported by both the National Education Association and the National Parent Teacher Association, is the 10-minute rule: Children should have no more than 10 minutes of homework each day for each grade reached. In 1st grade, children should have 10 minutes of daily homework; in 2nd grade, 20 minutes; and so on to the 12th grade, when on average they should have 120 minutes of homework each day, which is about 10 hours a week. It doesn’t always work out that way.

In 2013, the University of Phoenix College of Education commissioned a survey of how much homework teachers typically give their students. From kindergarten to 5th grade, it was just under three hours per week; from 6th to 8th grade, it was 3.2 hours; and from 9th to 12th grade, it was 3.5 hours.

There are two points to note. First, these are the amounts given by individual teachers. To estimate the total time children are expected to spend on homework, you need to multiply these hours by the number of teachers they work with. High school students who work with five teachers in different curriculum areas may find themselves with 17.5 hours or more of homework a week, which is the equivalent of a part-time job. The other factor is that these are teachers’ estimates of the time that homework should take. The time that individual children spend on it will be more or less than that, according to their abilities and interests. One child may casually dash off a piece of homework in half the time that another will spend laboring through in a cold sweat.

Do students have more homework these days than previous generations? Given all the variables, it’s difficult to say. Some studies suggest they do. In 2007, a study from the National Center for Education Statistics found that, on average, high school students spent around seven hours a week on homework. A similar study in 1994 put the average at less than five hours a week. Mind you, I [Robinson] was in high school in England in the 1960s and spent a lot more time than that—though maybe that was to do with my own ability. One way of judging this is to look at how much homework your own children are given and compare it to what you had at the same age.

Many parents find it difficult to help their children with subjects they’ve not studied themselves for a long time, if at all.

There’s also much debate about the value of homework. Supporters argue that it benefits children, teachers, and parents in several ways:

• Children learn to deepen their understanding of specific content, to cover content at their own pace, to become more independent learners, to develop problem-solving and time-management skills, and to relate what they learn in school to outside activities.
• Teachers can see how well their students understand the lessons; evaluate students’ individual progress, strengths, and weaknesses; and cover more content in class.
• Parents can engage practically in their children’s education, see firsthand what their children are being taught in school, and understand more clearly how they’re getting on—what they find easy and what they struggle with in school.

Want to know more about Sir Ken Robinson? Check out our Q&A with him.

Q&A With Sir Ken Robinson

Ashley Norris is assistant dean at the University of Phoenix College of Education. Commenting on her university’s survey, she says, “Homework helps build confidence, responsibility, and problem-solving skills that can set students up for success in high school, college, and in the workplace.”

That may be so, but many parents find it difficult to help their children with subjects they’ve not studied themselves for a long time, if at all. Families have busy lives, and it can be hard for parents to find time to help with homework alongside everything else they have to cope with. Norris is convinced it’s worth the effort, especially, she says, because in many schools, the nature of homework is changing. One influence is the growing popularity of the so-called flipped classroom.

In the stereotypical classroom, the teacher spends time in class presenting material to the students. Their homework consists of assignments based on that material. In the flipped classroom, the teacher provides the students with presentational materials—videos, slides, lecture notes—which the students review at home and then bring questions and ideas to school where they work on them collaboratively with the teacher and other students. As Norris notes, in this approach, homework extends the boundaries of the classroom and reframes how time in school can be used more productively, allowing students to “collaborate on learning, learn from each other, maybe critique [each other’s work], and share those experiences.”

Even so, many parents and educators are increasingly concerned that homework, in whatever form it takes, is a bridge too far in the pressured lives of children and their families. It takes away from essential time for their children to relax and unwind after school, to play, to be young, and to be together as a family. On top of that, the benefits of homework are often asserted, but they’re not consistent, and they’re certainly not guaranteed.

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Homework: A New User's Guide

Cory Turner

If you made it past the headline, you're likely a student, concerned parent, teacher or, like me, a nerd nostalgist who enjoys basking in the distant glow of Homework Triumphs Past (second-grade report on Custer's Last Stand, nailed it!).

Whoever you are, you're surely hoping for some clarity in the loud, perennial debate over whether U.S. students are justifiably exhausted and nervous from too much homework — even though some international comparisons suggest they're sitting comfortably at the average.

Well, here goes. I've mapped out six, research-based polestars that should help guide you to some reasonable conclusions about homework.

How much homework do U.S. students get?

The best answer comes from something called the National Assessment of Educational Progress or NAEP . In 2012, students in three different age groups — 9, 13 and 17 — were asked, "How much time did you spend on homework yesterday?" The vast majority of 9-year-olds (79 percent) and 13-year-olds (65 percent) and still a majority of 17-year-olds (53 percent) all reported doing an hour or less of homework the day before.

Another study from the National Center for Education Statistics found that high school students who reported doing homework outside of school did, on average, about seven hours a week.

If you're hungry for more data on this — and some perspective — check out this exhaustive report put together last year by researcher Tom Loveless at the Brookings Institution.

An hour or less a day? But we hear so many horror stories! Why?

The fact is, some students do have a ton of homework. In high school we see a kind of student divergence — between those who choose or find themselves tracked into less-rigorous coursework and those who enroll in honors classes or multiple Advanced Placement courses. And the latter students are getting a lot of homework. In that 2012 NAEP survey, 13 percent of 17-year-olds reported doing more than two hours of homework the previous night. That's not a lot of students, but they're clearly doing a lot of work.

Source: Met Life Survey of the American Teacher, The Homework Experience, 2007. LA Johnson/NPR hide caption

That also tracks with a famous survey from 2007 — from MetLife — that asked parents what they think of their kids' homework load. Sixty percent said it was just right. Twenty-five percent said their kids are getting too little. Just 15 percent of parents said their kids have too much homework.

Research also suggests that the students doing the most work have something else in common: income. "I think that the debate over homework in some ways is a social class issue," says Janine Bempechat, professor of human development at Wheelock College. "There's no question that in affluent communities, children are really over-taxed, over-burdened with homework."

But the vast majority of students do not seem to have inordinate workloads. And the ones who do are generally volunteering for the tough stuff. That doesn't make it easier, but it does make it a choice.

Do we know how much homework students in other countries are doing?

Sort of. Caveats abound here. Education systems and perceptions of what is and isn't homework can vary remarkably overseas. So any comparison is, to a degree, apples-to-oranges (or, at least, apples-to-pears). A 2012 report from the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development pegged the U.S. homework load for 15-year-olds at around six hours per week. That's just above the study's average. It found that students in Hong Kong are also doing about six hours a week. Much of Europe checks in between four and five hours a week. In Japan, it's four hours. And Korea's near the bottom, at three hours.

Source: OECD, PISA 2012 Database, Table IV.3.48. LA Johnson/NPR hide caption

How much homework is too much?

Better yet, how much is just right? Harris Cooper at Duke University has done some of the best work on homework. He and his team reviewed dozens of studies, from 1987 to 2003, looking for consensus on what works and what doesn't. A common rule of thumb, he says, is what's called the 10-minute rule. Take the child's grade and multiply by 10. So first-graders should have roughly 10 minutes of homework a night, 40 minutes for fourth-graders, on up to two hours for seniors in high school. A lot of of schools use this. Even the National PTA officially endorses it.

Homework clearly improves student performance, right?

Not necessarily. It depends on the age of the child. Looking over the research, there's little to no evidence that homework improves student achievement in elementary school. Then again, the many experts I spoke with all said the same thing: The point of homework in those primary grades isn't entirely academic. It's about teaching things like time-management and self-direction.

But, by high school the evidence shifts. Harris Cooper's massive review found, in middle and high school, a positive correlation between homework and student achievement on unit tests. It seems to help. But more is not always better. Cooper points out that, depending on the subject and the age of the student, there is a law of diminishing returns. Again, he recommends the 10-minute rule.

What kinds of homework seem to be most effective?

This is where things get really interesting. Because homework should be about learning, right? To understand what kinds of homework best help kids learn, we really need to talk about memory and the brain.

Let's start with something called the spacing effect . Say a child has to do a vocabulary worksheet. The next week, it's a new worksheet with different words and so on. Well, research shows that the brain is better at remembering when we repeat with consistency, not when we study in long, isolated chunks of time. Do a little bit of vocabulary each night, repeating the same words night after night.

Similarly, a professor of psychology at Washington University in St. Louis, Henry "Roddy" Roediger III , recommends that teachers give students plenty of little quizzes, which he says strengthen the brain's ability to remember. Don't fret. They can be low-stakes or no-stakes, says Roediger: It's the steady recall and repetition that matter. He also recommends, as homework, that students try testing themselves instead of simply re-reading the text or class notes.

There's also something known as interleaving . This is big in the debate over math homework. Many of us — myself included — learned math by focusing on one concept at a time, doing a worksheet to practice that concept, then moving on.

Well, there's evidence that students learn more when homework requires them to choose among multiple strategies — new and old — when solving problems. In other words, kids learn when they have to draw not just from what they learned in class that day but that week, that month, that year.

One last note: Experts agree that homework should generally be about reinforcing what students learned in class (this is especially true in math). Sometimes it can — and should — be used to introduce new material, but here's where so many horror stories begin.

Tom Loveless, a former teacher, offers this advice: "I don't think teachers should ever send brand-new material that puts the parent in the position of a teacher. That's a disaster. My own personal philosophy was: Homework is best if it's material that requires more practice but they've already received initial instruction."

Or, in the words of the National PTA: "Homework that cannot be done without help is not good homework."

Homework: To give and how much to give, that is the question

So, how much homework do you give per night? How do you determine what is the best amount? In addition to the impact that homework has on academic achievement, Christian teachers also are thinking about the impact of homework on the total well-being of students and their families. What about homework’s intrusion into precious family time? What about the student with slow processing who takes twice the time as other students to complete assignments? What about a parent’s choice to engage their child in other types of learning or work outside of the normal school day hours, essentially eliminating time to complete homework? These questions require the Christian teachers’ consideration because our role is to assist parents in the education of their children. Biblically, the parents “make the call,” so to speak.

Research informs one area of decision-making regarding homework. That area is the connection between academic achievement and the amount of time a student spends doing homework. Harris Cooper reviewed more than 60 research studies on homework between 1987 and 2003 and drew some conclusions which may be helpful. [1] Here is a brief summary of the meta-analysis of the research on homework: 1. The amount of homework assigned to students should be different based on the grade of the student.

• Elementary: homework does not increase academic performance, but can positively contribute to establishing work habits.  Recommended: grade in school times 10 minutes = time spent on homework (a student in fifth grade would be 5 x 10=50 minutes a night)
• Middle School:   Recommended:  90-120 minutes average per night
• High School:   every 30 minutes of additional homework per night yields a 5% increase in the student’s GPA up to a point.  Recommended: 120-180 minutes per night

by Isabel Thomas | Aug 30, 2021

How to make time for homework and home learning – tips for creating the right space and schedule in busy households

After children have been doing so much learning from home, it’s more important than ever to support children as they get back into a routine of classwork and homework. Some will be keen to get their homework done and will happily sit down to work when their parents suggest it. Others may be less enthusiastic!

However your child feel about homework, there are lots of simple things you can do to make it a positive and rewarding experience for your child.

1. Create the right setting

Try to create a calm environment so that it is easier for your child to concentrate. Keep distractions to a minimum. Make sure the television and radio are turned off and, ideally, turn any mobile phones to silent.

It will help if your child has a calm space to work, a table or desk to sit at where not too much else is going on. If you are reading with your child, choose a quiet spot – on the sofa, in their bedroom or anywhere that your child feels comfortable.

2. Little and often

Often the best approach to homework or learning at home is to do it little and often at predictable and regular times of the week – ideally not the last minute if at all possible! Spending ten minutes a day reading or the five minute journey to school learning times tables helps to make sure your child is getting plenty of learning practise in short, fun sessions.

Tackling homework over several short sessions across the week is sometimes more realistic in busy households, than sitting down for hours at a time. It is more likely to keep their interest and enthusiasm. Most importantly, it gets your child in a good habit for learning. For those children who are more resistant to doing homework, a regular 10 or 15 minute session is less daunting than sitting for an hour.

3. Pick your time carefully

It’s important to avoid children seeing learning as a chore, so bribery should be treated with caution, but you might find it easier if homework or home learning is done before a favourite television programme or a playdate, rather than suggesting it when your child is in the middle of something they are enjoying.

4. Be on hand to help

Don’t be afraid to help. While all parents want to encourage their children to be independent and to take responsibility for their learning, even the keenest learners need help now and again. Try being nearby in case they have a question without cramping their style.

Finally, keep calm! Tensions can run high when homework is being done but if you can avoid showing any irritation it will help things to run smoothly. Give them lots of praise for their efforts.

5. Be prepared!

Make sure your child has everything they need before they start (or, for older children, encourage then to do this themselves). This can avoid your child having to stop when things are going well to find a ruler or an eraser.

When it comes to homework it pays off to read what work has been set for your child (or, even better, to encourage them to read it out to you) as early as possible, even if they aren’t planning on tackling it for a day or two. A last minute panic about more work than was expected could be a source of friction!

Isabel Thomas: creating a positive learning environment

Author and mum of three boys, Isabel Thomas, shares what she’s learnt about encouraging her children to do their homework.

Fostering a sense of pride

“The best way to compete with distractions at home is to make homework fun. For us, this doesn’t mean bribing them to finish it, but making the process itself feel like warm, enjoyable time (much like reading a bedtime story).

“I don’t track their homework schedule for them – it’s up to them to remember to do it. And I will offer time and guidance, but I never get hands-on. So I ask what the task is, enthuse about how interesting it sounds, maybe point out a couple of relevant books or websites, then pretty much leave them to it.

“One of my sons likes the sense of companionship of sitting and working on projects together (and as I often have late homework of my own, I can always oblige!). Once they’ve finished it, I always offer praise, and if it’s a bit scrappy, I ask if they could think of any ways to make it even better.

“Over time, they’ve begun to enjoy the sense of pride you get from producing work independently. So much so that my youngest, in Reception, has been begging to have homework each week!”

Helping to learn coping strategies

“I think homework is not so much about actual work done/content learned, but about modelling useful learning behaviours. One of my sons is easily discouraged, so homework has been a good chance to lessen his sense of perfectionism and show him it’s not the end of the world if you make a mistake.

It took me until I was about 32 to learn this, so I’m hopefully giving him a headstart! Sharing books like Beautiful Oops , talking about strategies if he makes a spelling mistake, and showing him my own early drafts and crossing out in notebooks have all helped.”

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Written by Isabel Thomas

I live in Cambridge, where I’m a primary school governor and zookeeper to three young sons. In the last ten years I’ve written more than 130 books for children and young people including How to Change the World , shortlisted for the Royal Society Young People’s book Prize 2016. I also write for the awesome children’s science magazine Whizz Pop Bang.

Posted in Age , Age 5-6 , Age 7-8 , Age 9-10 , Top tips , Topic

• Reading & phonics

Reception Homework

Within Reception, children are given homework on a weekly basis. This will include weekly spellings / words to learn and maths work. Parents are asked to read with their children each night, if possible.

The below resources are based on word-level work taught during Reading and Spelling Workshop Lessons.  Each week, from just before Christmas, children are introduced to new letter sounds (‘Sounds We Know…’) and then learn how to read and write them by ‘segmenting’ and ‘word building’ (‘Words to Read and Write…’).  Children are also taught ‘Tricky Words’, which they need to memorise or learn ‘by rote’.  Please speak to our Reception teachers for more information about this or how you can help extend your child’s learning further.

Remember … If you have any questions about homework see the class teacher.

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Working After School: How Long Should You Spend Doing Homework?

25 February 2021

7 minutes to read

• 01. Homework at Primary School
• 02. How Much Time Should Secondary School Pupils Spend Doing Homework
• 03. Homework in Sixth Form or College

The average 15-year-old pupil in the UK has 5 hours of homework each week . Generally, in countries where they get more homework, their academic performance doesn’t increase.

However, this doesn’t that homework is pointless. It can be used to consolidate a student’s understanding of the lessons they did during the day. The amount of homework generally increases with age and primary school pupils get a lot less than students studying for their GCSEs.

The 5 hours a week statistic is average for OECD countries. Chinese students get an average of 14 hours of homework each week but their PISA results are only marginally better than countries with between 3 and 6 hours of homework.

So how much time should you spend doing homework?

Homework at Primary School

Children in primary school should probably go back over what they’ve been learning during the day. Even if this is reading a passage or practising some times tables.

They really shouldn’t have more than 24 hours a week of schooling with no more than 3 hours per half-day. Generally, they’ll be in school from 9:00 until 15:00 with breaks in the morning and afternoon as well as a lunch break. However, in some cases, they might only get a couple of breaks during the day.

Once they get home, the amount of homework they do should reflect their age and level.

Check out our guide to homework .

Younger primary school students or “infants” (Reception to Year 2) will learn to read, write, and count. While their days will be full of learning, they’ll also need to relax to aid concentration. At the end of the day, we recommend a snack and a break before they do any school work.

Usually, homework can take between 10 minutes and half an hour at this age and usually involves some reading, simple maths exercises, or a bit of writing. At 6 or 7, most pupils will need help from their parents when they go over their lessons and do their homework.

If your child is struggling at school or is tired, don’t hesitate to chat to them about school over lunch and quiz them on their time tables during bath time, for example. You’ll want them to see homework as something fun rather than a chore and private tutoring can help with this.

Juniors (Year 3 to Year 6)

Older primary school pupils still won’t get too much homework. Again, they can have a break and a snack before getting down to do their homework.

Children aged between 8 and 10 will probably only need between 20 and 40 minutes to do their homework.

Even though it’s a good idea for the parents to be there, the pupil should have some autonomy when it comes to doing their homework and the parents should only help if necessary. Of course, you can listen to them reading and correct them.

At a young age, you might want to avoid them doing homework at the weekend. We know that this isn’t always possible, but having them do homework on school days can help you organise your schedule more easily. If you don’t have the choice, allocate some time on a Saturday or Sunday to doing homework.

Find out more about planning and organising homework .

How Much Time Should Secondary School Pupils Spend Doing Homework

Once pupils reach secondary school, homework will take on a more important role. Going into Year 7 is a big step for a lot of pupils. They need to adapt to their new school and the idea of having several teachers instead of just one. They’ll also have different classes with different teachers.

A typical day will be slightly longer and the school may be farther away, which makes their overall day a bit longer, too. As they progress, they’ll get more choice in terms of the subjects they can study.

Learn how to get the most out of homework .

Year 7 will be the biggest change as they adjust to their new school. In a lot of cases with pupils coming from different primary schools, teachers will be trying to get all the pupils to the same level.

Students shouldn’t spend over 45 minutes each day on homework. They’ll also have opportunities during the day to do some of their homework.

Years 8 and 9

During Years 8 and 9, a lot of students get to make choices about some of the subjects they study, especially with foreign languages. They also get chances to try out different subjects before choosing their GCSE options at the end of Year 9.

At this age, between 45 minutes and an hour should be enough for focusing on their homework. Of course, this will depend on how well they study and how long they can concentrate.

Years 10 and 11

Year 10 is the first year of GCSE for students.

During this age, we recommend they spend an hour each day on their homework. This time will increase before exams or when they’re doing past papers.

If they still need help studying, it might be a good idea to get help from a private tutor.

Learn how to deal with a lot of homework .

Homework in Sixth Form or College

Once students have finished their GCSEs, they can move onto their A Levels. They can do this at their school if it has a sixth form or study at a college. At this age, courses aren’t about rote memory but rather an understanding of the subjects they’re studying.

Lower Sixth or AS Level

At this age, students tend to have fewer hours of lessons but more time to dedicate to study. If they’re at school, they mightn’t be free to come and go as they please.

They may have a lot of gaps in their timetable and it’s a good idea for them to use this time to study or do homework.

Ideally, they won’t want to spend more than an hour each day outside of the typical school time studying or revising. They have a lot of freedom and control over their education at this point.

If they can stay on top of everything, they mightn’t need to dedicate any time outside of school or college to study.

A Level/Upper Sixth

Again, students will have a lot of freedom when it comes to their free and it’ll mainly fall on them to be responsible. They won’t have teachers pressing them to get work done and they’ll be expected to take control of doing homework and studying.

We still recommend that they spend an hour to 90 minutes studying and doing homework and even doing a bit on the weekend, especially if they have exams coming up.

It can be useful for memory to go over the week’s classes at the weekend.

Learn how to help children with their homework .

If you or your child need help with homework or schoolwork, consider getting help from one of the many talented and experienced private tutors on Superprof. There are tutors for academic support, homework help, and specific subjects all over the country and around the world.

Private tutorials are either taught face-to-face, online, or in groups and each type of tutoring comes with advantages and disadvantages so think carefully about which one is right for you and your budget before hiring a private tutor.

One-on-one tutorials are just between the student and the tutor and can be tailored to suit the student's preferred learning style. This makes these types of tutorials incredibly effective as every minute is spent working to help the student. However, they also tend to be the most expensive type of tutoring available as you'll be paying for all the extra time and effort the tutor puts into planning and adapting their lessons to the student.

As they don't have to travel to each tutorial, online tutors can afford to charge less than face-to-face tutors and they often do. While these types of tutorials mightn't be as effective for certain hands-on subjects, they're excellent for academic subjects, study skills, revision, and help with homework.

Group tutorials are an excellent choice for families on a tight budget. With several students attending each session, there won't be as many opportunities for the tutor to adapt the lessons to the individual, but the cost will be shared amongst everyone participating, which makes these tutorials cheaper per student per hour.

Remember that a lot of the tutors on Superprof offer the first lesson or hour for free and you can use these sessions to try out several different tutors before deciding on the right one for you. Once you've chosen the perfect tutor, you can start working with them directly.

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Joseph Philipson

Joseph is a French and Spanish to English translator, language enthusiast, and blogger.

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I’m a teacher and believe that homework should be banned

California's trying to pass a law banning homework - we should too..

It’s clear that parents are fed up with the amount of homework their children are expected to do every day after school. From as early as reception, children are saddled with often hours of homework a day. Amidst juggling extra-curricular activities, tuition and simply spending time together as a family, it feels like homework is leaving less and less time for children – and their parents – to have a life beyond school.

It’s little wonder that calls to ban homework entirely are growing throughout the western world.

Most recently, the state of California was reported as being close to passing a law to outlaw homework, in order to limit stress for pupils and parents. The Healthy Homework Act, which requires teachers to consider if homework requires parental support and access to technology, has passed both chambers but awaits approval from the state governor.

In the battle against homework, it’s often teachers who are the supposed bad guys – the authoritarian figures in the background inflicting hours of pointless tasks upon our students just for our own amusement. But as a secondary school teacher of eight years, I’m here to tell you that I’m no fan of homework either.

In fact, I’ll let you into a secret: many of us teachers who issue homework in line with the policy of the schools we work at agree that homework should be banned too. It’s not just parents and kids.

My career has taught me that the best learning happens in a classroom under the supervision of a qualified and competent teacher who knows their subject, not an overburdened parent struggling to remember their own decades-old schooling while trying not to burn the fish fingers.

In my view, home is for other types of learning. There is so much for kids to absorb when they are free to actually have a conversation with a family member, to help a parent cook a new recipe or to play outside with a sibling. Often these can be more important than what children get out of doing hours of homework a night.

Then, of course, you have the emotional toll on children with developing brains and bodies that need nurturing (and resting) rather than overburdening.

In 2023, almost two thirds of children reported feeling anxious due to school and the most prominent factor in their stress, experienced by 55 per cent of children, was homework.

There is already a mental health epidemic among young people, fuelled by cuts to vital public services, the legacy of the pandemic and overstretched schools which simply can’t continue to plug the gaps where the state constantly fails.

Teachers like me are paying for parents' lack of discipline

Giving children the space they need to simply have a childhood once they leave the school gates – to play games, to relax, to socialise – would be far more beneficial for their emotional wellbeing than lumbering an extra hour of geography or science onto their already long school day.

But as ever in our fiercely divided nation, homework has the most catastrophic impact on the households that are already struggling.

I’ve seen with my own eyes how the attainment gap widens when some students have quiet, calm homes to study in, and others are living in cramped housing without even a bed of their own let alone a desk. Or when pupils are juggling caring for younger siblings with cooking dinner because their parents are taking extra shifts to make ends meet.

I’ve witnessed the stress inflicted on students who face endless detentions and punishments for incomplete homework, when really the reason behind these missed tasks was out of their control.

The class divide is already so impenetrable within the classroom. So how can we expect homework to do anything but exacerbate the issue? Some children have state of the art tablets and laptops at their disposable (not to mention educated, wealthy parents with enough stability to actually be present in the evenings).

Others have the dwindling data on their mum’s old phone that they need to share with five siblings – and parents who are more concerned with figuring out where the next meal is coming from than book reports and times tables.

In an ideal world in which every young person had the same resources at their disposal, maybe homework wouldn’t be so bad. But we live in a system on its knees thanks to the economic policies of successive governments that have made life progressively harder for the most disadvantaged.

If we really care about tackling inequality, we need to realise that it is unfair to assign a portion of our young people’s daily learning to be done at home. We forget that “home” looks so different for each child.

Nadeine Asbali is a secondary school teacher in London

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How much homework/parental input in reception..

Pooforbains · 22/01/2013 19:45

Is normal? Ds is in reception and has to look over phonics/letters every evening, plus reading book and other tasks on a weekend. I don't mind but its difficult to get him to concentrate at home, and I'm told he's falling behind.

We Had reading every night plus letters and a little task over the weekend. That is pretty much standard for the state schools here. The public one my friend has her daughter in had flash cards each day after the first weeks and a test after 6 weeks.

DD has a numeracy task and a literacy task every Thursday to be completed by the following Tuesday... She gets several reading books a week but certainly does not have homework to do every night... She is in reception btw...

Not much at all (reception). Ds has a reading book on Fridays to be sent back the following Monday. A few high frequency words to learn now and then. He has had maybe 2 maths tasks since he started in sept? Each with a month to complete and a note stressing that they were not compulsory. That's it, so far!

Ok so it is a bit more than normal. I'm not complaining as I'm really pleased about how well he's coming on (although I get the impression the teacher doesn't agree). What's interesting is this is our catchment school but we really wanted him to go to another school as it is an outstanding school but he didn't get in. Now when I speak to a friend who's daughters in reception there, she hasn't even started any phonics and doesn't have any homework, so ds is way in front.

DS1 is only expected to read at least 3-4 times per week, although he actually reads almost every night of his own volition. During the holidays he gets a "During the holidays I did..." exercise, in preparation for show and tell when they are back in school. There is no phonics or maths for him as he has been working on his own at phonics, but I don't know if the other children are given sounds to learn. The schools policy on homework is fabulous since it states that they also consider homework to include any broadening activity done at home including practising an instrument, taking part in sports, a family trip to a place of interest, finding out about something on their own etc etc. I am certain that there will be more formal homework when he reaches year 1 but I'm not feeling like he needs anything extra particularly and I like that the school support extra-curricular & family activities.

We get two books per week and are expected to read for 5-10 mins, 3x per week. Nothing else

Same as Sunnyday. I am very happy with this. I think homework should be banned for primary aged children...

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DD is in reception. We read every night so she gets a new book each day(if we have finished it). They don't tend to change books unless you have written in the reading record that you have finished it. They usually get a homework task every Friday. It has been maths recently. They have also sent sheets with phonics to practice at random intervals. She is more than happy to read and usually does the school book and then others from home, but it can be a challenge to get her to do other work. Having said that she is forever asking me to give her maths to do and writes all the time...it just seems to be the actual homework task she objects to. I think all homework except reading should be banned though at this age.....

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