Upgrading school buildings, starting lessons earlier and holding exams outside the hottest part of the year — these are among the options Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), wants to open up for discussion. In an interview with the Guardian published on 11 October, the leader of the British education union called on the government to launch a wide-ranging programme to adapt schools to extreme heat. These are proposals, not announced changes to the school day or calendar.
Kebede said he had received numerous messages during the summer of 2026 from teachers worried about their own safety and that of their pupils. According to his account, classroom temperatures exceeded 40°C and children were sent home. He said the heat had seriously affected working and learning conditions.
In his view, tackling the problem requires investment in buildings above all. Kebede pointed to the many schools housed in Victorian buildings or premises dating from the 1960s and 1970s, which he said were not equipped for extreme temperatures. He also argued that a substantial upgrade programme could create jobs and apprenticeship opportunities.
School hours and term dates up for discussion
The call goes beyond infrastructure. Kebede wants a nationwide debate about starting and finishing lessons earlier, changing the school calendar and extending the summer break. He also proposes considering a shift in exam dates to avoid the hottest part of the year. The interview did not set out an agreed timetable for these changes or a government decision to introduce them.
The NEU leader also highlighted the unequal impact of heat on families. He said children in less affluent urban communities were particularly affected, both because of their housing conditions and because their parents could not always work from home or take time off when children were sent home.
For parents, the important distinction is between a union call for action and a change to school arrangements. The Guardian interview raises the question of adapting buildings and the organisation of teaching to extreme heat, but it does not mean that new school hours, longer summer holidays or different exam dates have been introduced. No budget or timetable was given for the proposed building upgrade programme either.
