The government is looking into the possibility of a five-term school year, Gavin William has said.

The Education Secretary has been briefing the media ahead of schools across England reopening on March 8.

For millions of parents across the country, today (Friday March 5) marks the final day of homeschooling after months of remote learning amid a third national lockdown.

Ahead of children returning to the classroom on Monday, in the first step of Boris Johnson’s road map out of lockdown, Mr Williamson spoke to the i newspaper about “different ways of doing things”.

He said: “There’s been discussion about five-term years. It’s right to have that discussion, look at the evidence and make an assessment as to what are the best options, about how we can really drive children’s attainment in schools, especially children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds, so this is why we’ve asked Kevan (Collins) to look at all options.”

Wiltshire Times: Education Secretary Gavin Williamson responds to questions in the House of Commons. (PA)Education Secretary Gavin Williamson responds to questions in the House of Commons. (PA)

The Education Secretary refused to rule out the possibility of summer holidays being cut short, he added: “I think we should never be nervous about looking at new routes and different ways of doing things.”

The government appointed Sir Kevan Collins as education recovery commissioner in February to oversee a catch-up programme for pupils who have missed out on learning due to the pandemic.

Sir Kevan, the former chief executive of the Education Endowment Fund (EEF), will lead the Government’s work to help children and young people recover any learning lost amid Covid-19.

Wiltshire Times: Education Recovery Commissioner, Sir Kevan Collins, giving evidence to the Education Select Committee on plans to help school pupils catch up on lost learning. (PA)Education Recovery Commissioner, Sir Kevan Collins, giving evidence to the Education Select Committee on plans to help school pupils catch up on lost learning. (PA)

Earlier this week, Gavin Williamson did not rule out the prospect of restructuring the school year and reducing summer holidays when speaking with MPs.

Conservative MP Imran Ahmad Khan said: "I was interested reading the Institute of Economic Affairs' recent report entitled 'Back to school and after', which outlines a number of policies that would help resolve critical issues facing our schools.

"Summer holidays are one key area. It appears they prove counterproductive for pupils."

He added: "I wonder if the minister would kindly look into the proposal of restructuring the school year to reduce the length of summer holidays, a policy that would greatly benefit pupils and parents?"

Mr Williamson responded: "We've asked Sir Kevan Collins to look across a whole and broad range of different ways of giving children a boost in terms of being able to not just catch up in terms of any learning that they've lost, but actually more fundamentally make major changes to actually how we drive educational attainment over a generation and more.

"And of course all of this is something that Sir Kevan will be looking at."