Start of the school day
What time should school start?
Is an 8 a.m. school start too early?
20.6.2026
Translation: Veronica Bielawski
Early mornings are brutal for a lot of teenagers. They drag themselves to school, still half asleep. This problem has been on scientists’ radar for a long time – but new models are catching on slowly.
Mark dozing off with his head on the desk is the first image that springs to mind when I think back to those early-morning classes. Sometimes his arm would shoot up, he’d make a genuinely good contribution to the class discussion, and then he’d slump right back down. It wasn’t an act. He was a good student, and his struggle was real. The school day is built around adults – adult larks, to be precise, who are at their best early in the day.
«A lot of teenagers are living against their internal clock because they have to get up early to make it to school on time,» explained chronobiologist Prof. Henrik Oster in a conversation with my colleague Anna Sandner. He says it’s statistically well established that a person’s chronotype shifts back during puberty – by up to six hours.
The timetable confirm that it’s not unusual for pupils to be taking their seats with the clock’s first digit still reading seven. This is part and parcel of my family’s life in Zurich: on four out of five days, I wake my daughter just after 6 a.m., despite her struggling to fall asleep as early as she used to. The early lesson is slowly meeting resistance on more than just the scientific front – and things are starting to change in many places.
Plans for a later school start
Kriens scrapped the early slot (linked article in German) at the start of this school year. The city of Lucerne wants to do the same at secondary schools. Zurich is also on board with a four-year transition period.
Source: Shutterstock/Michael Derrer Fuchs
In Bern, the education authority has decided to allow schools to drop the early slot from summer 2027 by introducing block timetabling. And Basel-Stadt is a step ahead: class hasn’t started before 8 a.m. since the 2015/16 school year – and 8:30 a.m. is now being floated as the new start time. In May, the cantonal parliament decided that the government must look into this even later start.
While pupils are thrilled, the comments section of the newspaper 20 Minuten tells a different story: the older generation are fuming, the overall sentiment is that prosperity isn’t built by dragging your feet. Many comments read along the lines of, «Back in my day, we had to work hard for everything – today’s youth are apparently too soft to even get themselves to school in the morning.»
The pilot project in Gossau is working
Education authorities are more persuaded by hard facts than hard accusations – case in point: Gossau (SG). Since 2022, researchers have been supervising a pilot project there at the upper school level that gives pupils a more flexible morning thanks to adaptable scheduling and personal responsibility. Core lessons start at 8:30 a.m.; the hour before is optional, offering supervised study, and music and sports activities.
There are flexible options at lunchtime too. The pupils get to keep this freedom as long as things are running smoothly. Should someone fall behind academically or struggle with the pilot’s structure, the early study slot becomes compulsory for them. Researchers from the University of Zurich and the University Children’s Hospital Zurich looked into what the flexible model actually delivers, publishing their findings in the Journal of Adolescent Health in 2026:
- 45 more minutes of sleep: The pupils, averaging 14 years old, didn’t go to bed any later than before – and as a result slept an average of three quarters of an hour longer on school days.
- 95 per cent take advantage of the flexible option: The demand is clear. That said, teachers weren’t supervising an empty classroom during the optional early slot; 20 to 30 pupils per school made use of the supervised morning study session.
- Mental wellbeing: Symptoms such as fatigue, low mood and irritability decreased measurably compared to the previous system.
Improvements included reduced problems falling asleep [and] fewer students with clinically low health-related quality of life...
- Parents’ and teachers’ opinions: At home, family life was perceived as less stressful. At school, teachers rated regular lessons from 8:30 a.m. onwards as more focused.
This positive feedback wouldn’t count for much if academic progress were suffering under the new model. But the data is reassuring on this front: learning outcomes didn’t suffer – in English and maths, they were objectively better compared to canton-wide standardised test results. More sleep isn’t the only factor. The pedagogical approach plays a role too.
Happy young people, decent results, relaxed families and satisfied teachers – the Gossau model works. So what could possibly still speak against a later, more flexible school start?
The counterarguments are logical and logistical
Starting later means the lost lesson time has to be made up somewhere. Consequences include bottlenecks (in gym hall availability, for instance), the lunch break being reduced to an hour, or lessons stretching into the late afternoon. Those are the very times when students’ attention spans start to dip again – or when extracurricular activities start.
To work through the logistical questions and find models that actually work, those in charge of implementing change are relying on transition periods meant to address these and other understandable concerns. Parents’ often early working hours are another aspect of the logistical issues. Mind you, that argument should carry less weight, as most teenagers are perfectly capable of sorting themselves out in the morning – shovelling in a few calories, skipping the energy drinks, brushing their teeth and making a dash for the door.
In fact, in urban areas, a later start could ease the strain on the public transport system (linked article in German) – adults could travel to work first, with students following. In rural areas, on the other hand, PostBus and commuter train timetables are so closely coordinated that a later school start could throw off the entire system.
At least the debate around school start times – unlike many city buses during rush hour – is moving along at pace. Everyone is looking for the optimal solution for all involved. The one thing that’s really not up for debate: teenagers need enough sleep – and desks aren’t great for catching some z’s. Especially not with the bell interrupting your slumber every 45 minutes.
Header image: Shutterstock/BearFotos
Michael Restin
Senior Editor
Michael.Restin@digitecgalaxus.chSimple writer and dad of two who likes to be on the move, wading through everyday family life. Juggling several balls, I'll occasionally drop one. It could be a ball, or a remark. Or both.
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