In the U.S. a school year consists of a summer vacation which typically lasts about 10 to 12 weeks, alongside breaks during the winter and springtime. However, the school year functions quite differently in the United Kingdom.
In the U.K. there is a notably shorter summer vacation than the one in the U.S. However, the school years in the U.K. are divided into three terms, and there is a two week break between each of them. In addition to this, the terms are split in half with a week-long break separating them. As a result, there are more frequent but shorter breaks. The exception to this is Scotland, who does not have the same education system that the rest of the U.K., England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, has.
The U.K. does have a designated summer break. However, it usually lasts only 6 to 7 weeks.
“I think the way we have it is better. The way we have it set up, with the whole summer off, and only two terms, I think it works better that way,” Zaphenath Limas Garcia ‘20 said.
The American semester system leaves fewer terms to stress over and more time to keep their grades up, as well as, a longer summer vacation to recover.
“I think [the American setup] is worse because the summer break is so long, and it’s real easy to just forget a lot of stuff,” Dylan Ordonez Maldonado ‘22 said.
It has become apparent in the American school system that the long summer breaks can result in some of the material learned during the school year to be forgotten. This is often referred to as a “summer slide,” and this means that students can lose a month or more of material learned the previous year. In England, summer learning losses do exist, but are less apparent. Schools can usually bring their students back up to similar levels as before the summer in only a few weeks.
Both systems have advantages and disadvantages, however, which one is better for has not been decided yet. Luckily, those who fear losing an extended summer vacation have nothing to worry about because there are no plans for American schools to transition to the term system.
