• 1 in 4 teachers work over 60 hours a week - but that's not why they're leaving

    A quarter of teachers work more than 60 hours per week, according to a new study, which warns government attempts to reduce working hours have failed. But the paper, published by the Nuffield Foundation and UCL Institute of Education, also found high working hours have been relatively unchanged for 20 years – making it unlikely…

    0.01 Sep. 18th, 2019 | News

  • The new Ofsted framework has the potential to transform workload

    Ofsted’s new curriculum framework has the potential to transform workload and bring education back to where it should be. Exam grades and test results are hugely important – they are a mark of knowledge and achievement that young people can use as the collateral to win university places, secure apprenticeships and get great jobs. Yet…

    5.00 Oct. 14th, 2018 | Opinion

  • Teachers reduce hours and pay to manage workload

    Teachers are being forced to go part-time in order to manage their workload, the Department for Education has admitted. Researchers carried out 75 interviews with full- and part-time teachers and leaders last summer to find out about what causes longer hours at work, and how schools are addressing the problem. The resulting report into ‘Exploring…

    5.00 Mar. 17th, 2018 | News

  • How are schools implementing flexible working?

    Schools are letting teachers take their planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time at home, banning work in the staff room and cutting the hours of senior leaders, all in the name of staff wellbeing and flexible working. But researchers believe more still should be done to “normalise flexible working in schools”, and have launched a…

    7.00 Feb. 24th, 2018 | News

  • Why flexible working won't solve the workload problem

    Back in the 2000s, “thinking hats” were a mega-cool concept in schools. Available in six different colours, each one signified a way of thinking about a problem. For example, yellow-hat thinking involved looking positively at a problem, while people wearing white hats were told to look purely at facts. The concept is less cool these…

    10.03 Feb. 23rd, 2018 | Opinion

  • Teacher workload crisis threatens examiner recruitment

    Teacher workload and reforms to GCSEs and A-levels are affecting examiner recruitment. Union officials, school leaders and examiners have lined up to call for a change in approach after the organisation representing the four big exam boards admitted workload was a “barrier” to recruitment at a time when reforms mean more examiners are needed. Speaking…

    7.00 Feb. 11th, 2018 | News

  • How can the DfE use EdTech to reduce teacher workload?

    Justine Greening was making progress on using EdTech to alleviate workload – here’s what she’d achieved so far, and what’s still left to do, says Atif Mahmood The DfE’s own research has identified workload as the “most important factor” behind teachers who leave the profession. I meet with heads of department and headteachers daily, all…

    16.30 Jan. 24th, 2018 | Opinion

  • Here's how government can alleviate teacher workload

    Overwork is what stresses teachers out the most – and the DfE needs to take urgent, concrete steps, writes Kevin Courtney Teachers tell us time and again that workload is the main issue that drives them to despair – or in many cases out of the profession all together. The government has acknowledged the extent…

    5.00 Jan. 13th, 2018 | Opinion

  • School where staff mark 'how they like' gets government approval

    A school which gave teachers a “carte blanche” to mark pupils’ work “however they like” has been picked out by the government as an example of good practice. Barr Beacon School, near Birmingham, has halved the time staff spend grading homework by lifting all marking requirements and allowing them to give pupils written feedback twice…

    5.00 Dec. 17th, 2017 | News

  • £20m crack team of digital specialists to help solve teacher workload

    A crack team of digital specialists will be set up in the heart of government to encourage education technology startups to solve problems faced by schools, such as teacher workload. The new “GovTech Catalyst” unit will get £20 million over the next two years to provide match funding to public bodies wanting to commission tech…

    5.00 Nov. 24th, 2017 | News

  • Nottingham's charter to cap teacher overtime needs 'national leader'

    Nottingham council’s pioneering approach to capping overtime for teachers has won plaudits across the sector – but the number of schools committing remains low. The city’s education improvement board launched its “Fair Workload Charter” last autumn, urging local schools to cap the work teachers are expected to perform in their own time at two hours…

    17.00 Oct. 13th, 2017 | News