Board Thread:Episode Discussions/@comment-1181222-20170802095306/@comment-2112031-20170807180212

Sharingan91 wrote: Elveonora wrote: I believe that in the Narutoverse the Ninja Academy can really last only 1 year, as there have been characters who were said to have graduated in just 1 year. Basically, if a student is highly exceptional, then after 1 year he/she may become Genin, if not, more years are spent in the Academy. The academy has changed, this is said in the first episodes. So the course can last less because we are in peace I don't see why, just because it's a time of peace, the academy would suddenly start graduating students after only one year. The fact that certain exceptional students have managed to graduate very quickly in the past doesn't apply here, as we're talking about the entire class graduating simultaneously.

The changes to the academy that were mentioned referred to the fact that the academy now requires proper academic scores to graduate, rather than focusing mostly on Ninjutsu skills. The fact that the academy has expanded their curriculum should, if anything, cause the students to take even longer to graduate.

For reference, Naruto and Sasuke started attending the Academy at age 8 or younger (they were already attending before the Uchiha Clan Massacre), and graduated at age 12.