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# Should Schools Move Exams Because It’s Getting Too Hot?
- URL: https://digitalteachernotes.com/should-schools-move-exams-because-its-getting-too-hot/
- Published: 2026-10-14T02:31:56.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-14T02:31:56.000Z
- Description: With classroom temperatures exceeding 40°C and hundreds of thousands of students missing school during heatwaves, UK educators are asking whether exam dates and school hours need to change.
- Author: Digital Teacher
- Tags: News, Teaching Ideas

School calendars were designed around seasons.

But what happens when the seasons change?

In the UK, the head of the National Education Union is calling for schools to rethink everything from classroom buildings to exam dates as extreme heat becomes more common.

The proposal follows a difficult summer.

During 2026, classroom temperatures in some schools reportedly rose above **40°C**, while more than **760,000 students in England and Wales missed school because of heat-related closures**.

That raises a surprisingly practical question:

**Should schools start planning around heat in the same way they plan around winter weather?**

## Exams may be part of the problem

Most major school exams take place toward the end of the academic year.

That means they increasingly overlap with the hottest part of the school calendar.

Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, has suggested that schools may need to reconsider:

- exam dates
- school start and finish times
- term dates
- building design
- ventilation and cooling

The goal is not to make schools more comfortable in a general sense.

It is to keep learning possible when temperatures become extreme.

[Read the Guardian report](https://www.theguardian.com/education/2026/oct/11/schools-exams-extreme-heat-neu-daniel-kebede?ref=digitalteachernotes.com)

## Heat is not just uncomfortable

High temperatures can affect:

- concentration
- sleep
- behaviour
- physical health
- attendance
- exam performance

A classroom that is simply “too warm” is one thing.

A classroom above 40°C is another.

At that point, the issue is no longer comfort.

It becomes a question of whether students can reasonably be expected to learn and perform normally.

## Older school buildings are a particular problem

Many schools were built for a climate where keeping buildings warm was the main concern.

That design assumption is becoming less reliable.

Large windows.

Poor ventilation.

Limited shading.

Buildings that retain heat.

All of these can turn classrooms into difficult learning environments during prolonged hot weather.

The union is therefore calling for a large-scale retrofit programme.

That could include:

- better ventilation
- external shading
- improved insulation
- cooling systems
- redesigned outdoor areas
- changes to how classrooms are used during heatwaves

## This is also an inequality problem

Not every school experiences heat in the same way.

Well-funded schools may have:

- newer buildings
- better ventilation
- shaded spaces
- more flexibility to move lessons

Other schools may have very few options.

And students in disadvantaged urban areas may return home to overheated housing too.

So extreme heat can create a double problem:

**a difficult school environment followed by a difficult home environment.**

That can turn climate adaptation into an education-equity issue.

## Could the school day change too?

One proposal is to change school hours during extreme heat.

For example, schools could start earlier and finish before the hottest part of the afternoon.

That is already common in some hotter countries.

But making that work in places such as the UK would affect:

- transport
- childcare
- working parents
- school meals
- sports
- after-school activities

Changing the timetable is much easier to suggest than to implement.

Still, if heatwaves become more frequent, schools may eventually have little choice.

## The school calendar may not be as fixed as we think

For generations, the school year has been treated as something almost permanent.

Autumn term.

Winter holidays.

Spring term.

Summer exams.

Summer break.

But those dates were created for a particular climate, economy and way of life.

If extreme heat regularly disrupts schools, that structure may need to change.

Not everywhere.

Not immediately.

But the question is becoming more realistic.

## The bigger lesson

Education policy often focuses on:

- curriculum
- technology
- assessment
- teaching methods

But sometimes the most important condition for learning is much more basic:

**Can students physically stay in the classroom?**

If hotter summers become normal, school infrastructure and scheduling may become educational issues in their own right.

And moving an exam date may eventually be as practical as changing a lesson plan.

### Source

[The Guardian: Retrofit schools and consider moving exams to beat extreme heat, says teaching union leader](https://www.theguardian.com/education/2026/oct/11/schools-exams-extreme-heat-neu-daniel-kebede?ref=digitalteachernotes.com)