Pick a side
Choose one question. Think quietly, compare in pairs, then give a reason. Fictional examples are welcome.
- Choose: more free time, more money or less stress. Explain.
- Would you rather finish earlier every day or have a whole day free?
- What steals time from your week?
Get the story
Read to find one benefit, one problem and one idea you want to challenge.
Imagine someone in your family came home with surprising news: their workplace was testing a four-day week, with the same pay. Would life become easier, or would four very busy days create new problems? The idea is about paid work, but it raises questions teenagers know well: how do we use our time, what helps us concentrate, and when do we need a break?
Many workers dream of having an extra day off, but employers often worry about unfinished tasks and unhappy customers. One possible solution is a four-day working week with fewer hours and no reduction in pay. It sounds attractive, but how does it work in practice?
In 2022, 61 organisations in the United Kingdom joined a six-month trial. Around 2,900 employees took part. Before the change, some teams studied how they spent their time. They shortened unnecessary meetings, improved communication and changed staff schedules. The aim was not simply to squeeze five days of work into four. Instead, teams tried to work more efficiently.
The results attracted attention. At the end of the trial, 56 of the 61 organisations said they intended to continue. In employee surveys, 39% reported that they felt less stressed and 71% reported lower levels of burnout, a feeling of extreme tiredness caused by too much pressure. These results suggest that shorter hours can help some people feel healthier.
However, a shorter week is not equally easy in every workplace. A software team might reduce meetings, but a café cannot serve lunch without staff. Hospitals and shops need enough people on duty every day. Smaller businesses may find it difficult to pay for additional cover. There is also a difference between working fewer hours and working four longer days.
Supporters believe a shorter week could help employers attract staff and improve their quality of life. Critics point out that the successful companies chose to participate in the trial, so other workplaces might have different results.
Perhaps the most sensible question is not whether everybody should work four days. It is how each organisation could test a new schedule while keeping its services reliable and treating its employees fairly.
Now consider your own week. School, homework, sport, helping at home and meeting friends all take time. Workplace research does not prove that a four-day school week would have the same results. Schools would need their own evidence. Still, you can use similar questions to judge a timetable: who benefits, who needs extra help, and what would you measure before calling an experiment a success?
Original classroom writing informed by the sources below.
Word power
Explain a word to a partner, check its meaning, then use it in a new example.
Prove it
Choose an answer, then find the sentence that supports it. Guessing is only the start.
Watch. Notice. Question.
World's biggest four-day working week trial ends in success · BBC News
2:52
Open authentic videoPreview before class; stop after the short excerpt.
- Note one result of the trial and one way a business needed to adapt.
Use the article as your report. Find its main claim, supporting evidence and one thing it cannot tell you. Compare answers and explain the difference between a fact and an opinion.
The challenge board
Two teams, one screen, no student devices. Choose a tile. Explain your answer before revealing it. Use the score buttons to award points; opinions earn points for reasons, not agreement.
Choose a challenge to begin.
Have something to say
This or that?
- Four long days or five shorter days?
Choose. Give a reason. Ask your partner one follow-up question.
- Friday off for all or different days off?
Choose. Give a reason. Ask your partner one follow-up question.
- More pay or more free time?
Choose. Give a reason. Ask your partner one follow-up question.
- Fewer meetings or fewer messages?
Choose. Give a reason. Ask your partner one follow-up question.
- A quiet day off or a day full of plans?
Choose. Give a reason. Ask your partner one follow-up question.
- Trial first or change the rule now?
Choose. Give a reason. Ask your partner one follow-up question.
Go deeper
Pick the questions that interest you. You can defend a fictional view.
- What would you actually do with an extra free day?
- Should everyone have the same day off?
- Would you accept four longer days?
- Which jobs would be hardest to change?
- Could free time cost a family extra money?
- How could technology save time without keeping people online all evening?
- What makes a break useful?
- Does being busy mean being productive?
- Should customers help decide opening hours?
- Which is fairer: equal hours or equal results?
- How would you stop a shorter week becoming more stressful?
- What evidence would change your mind?
- I would choose ... because ...
- One advantage is ..., but ...
- I see your point. However, ...
- What evidence supports that?
- Could we agree on ...?
- I used to think ..., but now ...
Make your case
Your youth centre wants to test a four-day staff timetable. It must remain open after school on five weekdays. Design a rota, explain how visitors will get help, and plan a one-month trial.
Plot twist — open when your plan is ready
One staff member can only work mornings, and Friday is the busiest afternoon. Revise your plan.
Final outcome: Present a rota, one benefit, one risk and two things you will measure.
- I would choose ... because ...
- One advantage is ..., but ...
- I see your point. However, ...
- What evidence supports that?
- Could we agree on ...?
- I used to think ..., but now ...
One more idea
Design a one-week time experiment. Change one habit, predict the result and choose a fair way to measure it.
Exit ticket
One useful word. One idea you changed or questioned. One question you still have.
Follow the story
Class notes
Teacher notes, game downloads & flexible plan
Teach it your way
Language guidance: approximately B1. Keep this label off student materials. Allow 60 minutes; choose questions rather than rushing every activity. Extend to 90 minutes with the creative task, extra discussion and a second challenge round.
Keep workplace and school evidence separate. Family examples may be fictional; do not assume families have secure jobs or paid free time.
Original research and policy sources retained from the published lesson. Classroom scenarios are fictional.
A flexible 60-minute route
- Pick a side: 5 minutes
- Reading and evidence hunt: 12 minutes
- Word power: 8 minutes
- Comprehension and optional short media excerpt: 8 minutes
- Challenge board and selected discussion: 12 minutes
- Make your case and exit ticket: 15 minutes
Use your game accounts
The built-in board works now. These downloads contain this lesson's questions; they are not live published Blooket or Baamboozle sets.
Use Blooket's current spreadsheet template when importing; the CSV supplies question text, four answers, time and numbered correct answers. Copy the TSV questions and answers into Baamboozle.
Blooket import instructions · Open Baamboozle
Answer key
- Reduce working hours without cutting pay. The trial explored fewer hours with no reduction in salary.
- They reduced unnecessary meetings. Teams reviewed meetings, communication and scheduling.
- It has to serve people at particular times. Customers still expect food and service.
- Companies joined voluntarily. The participants were not a random sample of all workplaces.
Listening guidance
Accept accurate paraphrases grounded in the clip. If the clip is unavailable, assess evidence from the reading instead.