New Study Indicates Later School Times Results in Improved Overall Wellness for Students

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that school starts at 8:30 a.m.

By Caitlin Sawicki April 26, 2018

Delaying school start times gives students more time to sleep, resulting in overall improved wellbeing, according to a new study published by Oxford University Press.

The July 2016 study aimed to discover the short-term and long-term impact a 45-minute school delay could have on the overall well-being of adolescents. The study consisted of 375 students in grades 7-10 from an all-girls’ secondary school in Singapore. The school delayed its start time from 7:30 to 8:15, recreating the schedule so that school did not end later. Researchers assessed students’ self-reports of total sleep time, sleepiness, and well-being before the schedule change, approximately one month after the delay and again nine months after the delay.

The results indicated that, after one month, bedtimes on school nights were delayed by approximately nine minutes, while the times students got up were delayed by about 32 minutes, resulting in an increased bedtime total of 23 minutes.

At the nine-month follow-up, the percentage of participants whose self-reported sleeping time on weekdays was at least 8 hours increased from 6.9% to 16%, and total bedtime total increased by about 10 minutes. Students reported lower levels of sleepiness and improved well-being at both follow-ups.

In Singapore, where students are often encouraged to choose academic success over sleep, school usually starts an hour earlier at 7:30 a.m., resulting in sleep deprivation among East Asian adolescents.

“Starting school later in East Asia is feasible and can have sustained benefits,” said the paper's lead researcher Michael Chee, according to a press release. “Our work extends the empirical evidence collected by colleagues in the West and argues strongly for disruption in practice and attitudes surrounding sleep and wellbeing in societies where these are believed to hinder rather than enhance societal advancement.”