Fears about bullying and bad behaviour, the need for more teaching time and concerns over playground supervision are among the causes of between a quarter and a third of schools reducing the length of breaks, according to research published by the University of London's Institute of Education.

The author of the research, Dr Peter Blatchford, said his survey of 1,500 infant, junior and secondary schools revealed a negative view towards break times. "If anything untoward is going to happen, teachers expect it to happen at break time," he said. As a consequence schools across the country are trimming back on time in the playground, a trend that the survey suggests more schools will follow.

Playing together can help children to develop social skills

But Dr Blatchford said that anxieties about bullying and problems with supervision mean that schools can miss the importance of play and socialising in the life of young people. For some children, he says, play time is almost the only forum for making friends and spending time with their peer group.

Pupils who are driven to school by their parents and who spend little time outside of their homes use play times as their main chance to mix freely with other children. As such, in contrast to their teachers, children have a far more positive view of break time as an important part of their social life.

Among the findings of the research, published under the title "Social Life in School: Pupils' Experience of Breaktime and Recess from 7-16", are that a quarter of junior schools have abolished afternoon breaks and that, as a proportion of the day, secondary schools have the least break time, at 77 minutes compared to 93 minutes for pupils in infant school.

It was also found in the survey that teachers believed that pupils were less able to play constructively than in the past, with traditional games in decline and "children idling around the playground not seeming to know what to do with themselves".