Summer schools are going national this year and 7,000 pupils at risk of retaking a year will attend.

It is the third year summer schools have been set up and their success means they are being rolled out nationally.

Last year, 500 pupils attended and 85% of them were able to move on to the next year, broadcaster Nos says.

According to Paul Rosenmöller of the secondary education council, 25% of 15-year-olds have to retake a year. ‘This is bad for the pupil, the school and the tax-payer,’ he told Nos.

Summer schools offer lessons in the subjects in which pupils are failing. ‘Education was once mass-produced,’ Rosenmöller said. ‘It is now much more tailored.’ He said summer schools are one result of this.

Tailored

‘There is an enormous need for tailored teaching but over-full classes and a packed annual schedule leave little room for this,’ Hans van Beekum, schools director in Den Helder told the broadcaster.

‘Education comes to a halt in the summer,’ Van Beekum said. ‘For two months there is no need to learn. That is an old-fashioned idea.’

Last year, Den Helder had 14 pupils in summer school, 12 of whom moved on to the next year.