Why Students Should Not Have Homework

13 October 2026 · Tutor Circle

Students should not have heavy homework that crowds out sleep, especially in primary school. The research link between homework and achievement is stronger for older students than for young children. Singapore has not banned homework. The Ministry of Education leaves the amount to schools, and schools publish their own time guides. The case against homework is a case against volume without a purpose.

A primary school girl in uniform resting her head on her hand over a pile of worksheets at night — The case against homework is a case against volume that crowds out sleep, especially in primary school.

The claim: Heavy homework, particularly in primary school, costs more than it returns
What MOE says: No national split between classwork and homework. Every school should have a policy. Reply of 4 February 2026
A common primary guide: P1–P2 about 3–7 hours a week, P3–P4 about 6–10, P5–P6 about 9–13. School policies, not a national cap
Research: Homework’s link to achievement is clearer in secondary school than in elementary school
Sleep: 9–12 hours for ages 6–12, and 8–10 hours for ages 13–18
What still helps: Short practice on a skill the lesson already taught

The case against heavy homework

Homework is defended as practice. Practice only works when the student can do the task, the task matches the lesson, and the time left in the day can hold it. A primary child who cannot start the worksheet is not practising. They are waiting for a parent who may be on a shift.

Younger students gain less from homework than older students. Piling work on Primary 1 and 2 is the hardest policy to defend.
The evening in Singapore is already travel, CCA, a bath and a meal. Homework is not dropped into an empty hour.
Sleep is a school-night requirement, not a reward for finishing. Ages 6 to 12 are recommended 9 to 12 hours. Ages 13 to 18 are recommended 8 to 10.
Homework marks the home. A child with a quiet desk and a parent who studied the subject is doing a different assignment from a child who is not.
A worksheet set because the book still has pages is not a learning objective. Schools that write down a time guide are already admitting the load can get away from a teacher.

“Students should not have homework” is a fair title for that case. It is a poor policy if it is read as “students should never practise”. The last section says what to keep.

What Singapore schools actually do

MOE does not set the proportion of work that must be finished at home. Teachers decide, from the lesson and the class, whether work stays in school or goes home. The ministry’s position, in a reply on 4 February 2026, is that every school has a homework policy, that schools review the load, and that MOE watches this at system level. Pre-school is treated differently: home activities there are also about family time. [1]

So a parent cannot quote a single national minute limit. A parent can quote the school’s own page. If the diary shows a week that is far above that page, the conversation with the teacher has a number in it.

Example time guides from primary schools

South View Primary and Pei Tong Primary both publish weekly guides in the same shape. They are examples of how a school writes the policy, not a rule for every school on the island. [4] [5]

Upper end of a published primary homework guide, hours per week

Primary 1 and 2

3–7 h

Primary 3 and 4

6–10 h

Primary 5 and 6

9–13 h

Bar length is the top of the term-time weekly range published by South View Primary and, in the same bands, by Pei Tong Primary. Primary 1 and 2: 3–7 hours. Primary 3 and 4: 6–10. Primary 5 and 6: 9–13. These are school guides, not an MOE cap.

Table 1. Two published primary-school guides during term. Hours are totals across subjects. Your school’s page is the one that applies to your child.
Level	South View Primary, per week	Pei Tong Primary, per week
Primary 1 and 2	3–7 hours	3–7 hours
Primary 3 and 4	6–10 hours	6–10 hours
Primary 5 and 6	9–13 hours	9–13 hours

Pei Tong states that homework should reinforce learning, build study habits, and let parents see progress. [5] That is the case for homework, from a school that also caps the week. Both sentences can be true. A cap without a purpose is still busywork. A purpose without a cap expands until sleep moves.

What the research can support

A synthesis of homework studies from 1987 to 2003 found a positive relationship between homework and achievement. The relationship was stronger in secondary school than in elementary school. [2] That finding does not say secondary students can be given unlimited work. It says the “no homework” claim is on its firmest ground with younger children, and on weaker ground with a Secondary 4 student revising a national paper.

The studies are not a Singapore PSLE trial. They are still the evidence people are pointing at when they say homework “works” or “does not work”. Quote the age split. A speech that says research has disproved homework is larger than the paper.

Sleep, CCA and a Singapore evening

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s paediatric consensus recommends 9 to 12 hours for children aged 6 to 12, and 8 to 10 hours for teenagers aged 13 to 18. [3] A Primary 4 child who needs nine hours and wakes at 6am is asleep by 9pm. Tuition, CCA, dinner and homework share the hours before that. Something gives. It should not be the sleep.

This is also why a private lesson has to be planned, not stacked. A child who already cannot finish school work does not need a second pile from a tutor. They need the school work made understandable, in a shorter time. That is a different brief from “more practice papers”.

What to do instead of banning homework

A family eating dinner together in a flat, with a school bag on a chair — An evening still has dinner and sleep. Short practice on a skill the class has taught is a different thing from a pile of worksheets.

Keep short practice on a skill the class has taught. Ten careful sums beat forty sums the child gets wrong.
Ask the school to honour its own guide. Bring a week of start and finish times.
Protect the sleep window before you protect the last worksheet.
Use festive and examination weeks the way careful schools already do: less new work, more rest or revision.
For a subject the child cannot start alone, get a tutor for that subject rather than extending the night. Primary and PSLE routes are on the <TextLink href="/psle">PSLE page</TextLink> and the <TextLink href="/primary-school-tuition">primary tuition page</TextLink>.

If you have to write the essay

The question “students should not be given homework” is a standard argument prompt. A five-part plan, and the difference between O-Level English and General Paper, is on the argumentative essay page. Use this page for the facts. Use that page for the writing.

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Questions parents ask

Why should students not have homework?

The strongest case is against heavy homework, especially in primary school. A research synthesis found that the link between homework and achievement is clearer in secondary school than in elementary school. Children aged 6 to 12 are recommended 9 to 12 hours of sleep, and teenagers 8 to 10. A large weeknight load also assumes a quiet desk and a parent who can teach the subject, which is not every home in Singapore. Short, purposeful practice is a different thing from a pile set because a worksheet remains.

Does the Ministry of Education ban homework?

No. In a February 2026 parliamentary reply, MOE said it does not dictate what share of schoolwork must be done at home. Teachers assign home work from professional judgement. Every school is expected to have a homework policy, and schools review the load. A national minute cap is not the current rule. The argument on this page is about how heavy that load should be, not a claim that MOE has abolished homework.

How much homework do Singapore primary schools set?

It depends on the school. Several primary schools publish a similar guide: about 3 to 7 hours a week for Primary 1 and 2, 6 to 10 hours for Primary 3 and 4, and 9 to 13 hours for Primary 5 and 6, during term. Those figures are school policies, not an MOE national standard. Read your own school’s page. Some schools also set no homework over festive weekends.

Is there evidence that homework works?

There is evidence of a positive link with achievement, and it is stronger for older students than for primary students. That is why a blanket slogan, “no homework ever”, is a weak conclusion, and why a primary child with two hours a night is also hard to defend. Secondary students preparing for a national exam are in the group where practice at home has a clearer role.

What should families do when the load is too high?

Use the school diary. If the work regularly takes much longer than the school’s own time guide, tell the form teacher, with a week of timings rather than one bad night. Protect sleep first. A tutor can shorten the struggle on a subject the child cannot start, which is a different problem from a school that has simply set too many pages.

Can this topic be an essay question?

Yes. O-Level English and General Paper both ask students to argue a position. A plan for “students should not be given homework on weeknights” is on the argumentative essay page. That page is about how to write the essay. This page is about the substance.

Sources

Ministry of Education, parliamentary reply, “Guidelines for Proportion of Work to Be Completed in School and At Home,” 4 February 2026. MOE said it does not dictate the proportion of schoolwork to be done in school or at home. Schools have homework policies, and MOE monitors those policies. Accessed 13 October 2026. https://www.moe.gov.sg/news/parliamentary-replies/20260204-guidelines-for-proportion-of-work-to-be-completed-in-school-and-at-home
Harris Cooper, Jorgianne Civey Robinson and Erika A. Patall, “Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of Research, 1987–2003,” Review of Educational Research 76, no. 1 (2006). The synthesis reports a positive relationship between homework and achievement that is stronger for secondary students than for elementary students. Accessed 13 October 2026. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543076001001
Paruthi S, Brooks LJ, D’Ambrosio C, et al., “Recommended Amount of Sleep for Pediatric Populations: A Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine,” Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine 12, no. 6 (2016). The statement recommends 9 to 12 hours for children 6 to 12 years, and 8 to 10 hours for teenagers 13 to 18 years. Accessed 13 October 2026. https://jcsm.aasm.org/doi/10.5664/jcsm.5866
South View Primary School, “Homework Policy.” During term the school’s guide is 3–7 hours a week for Primary 1 and 2, 6–10 hours for Primary 3 and 4, and 9–13 hours for Primary 5 and 6. This is one school’s policy, published as an example of how a Singapore primary school writes the load down. Accessed 13 October 2026. https://www.southviewpri.moe.edu.sg/info-hub/school-home-partnership/homework-policy/
Pei Tong Primary School, “Homework Policy,” updated 21 May 2026. The school publishes weekly time norms of 3–7 hours for Primary 1 and 2, 6–10 hours for Primary 3 and 4, and 9–13 hours for Primary 5 and 6, and states purposes of homework including practice and study habits. Accessed 13 October 2026. https://www.peitongpri.moe.edu.sg/our-school/school-policy/homework-policy/