A leaked government report has laid bare the school workload crisis, with two in five school leaders working 鈥渦nacceptable鈥 12-hour days. The long-awaited shows that a classroom teachers鈥 working week has reduced by less than an hour in three years, while leaders work longer on average than they did in 2019. At that rate it would take more than 18 years to realise education secretary Gillian Keegan鈥檚 pledge to reduce teacher workload by five hours a week. The survey, completed last spring by 11,000 school staff, has not yet been made public by the Department for Education. The findings were not included in the DfE鈥檚 evidence to the school teachers鈥 review body about next year鈥檚 pay award, despite having been available to ministers since at least last September. But a copy obtained by Schools Week reveals previous progress in reducing working hours has unravelled. Senior leaders鈥 average week dropped from 60.5 hours in 2016 to 55.1 in 2019 but now stands at 56.8. Two in five leaders work more 60 hours a week. Nearly one in five teachers worked at least 60 hours a week – most spent less than half of that teaching. Just 48 minutes shaved off average week Teachers鈥 average working week has dropped 48 minutes since 2019, with a quarter of teachers considering leaving within a year. This is despite a 2019 government pledge to 鈥渄rive down unnecessary workload and pressures鈥 so leaders can ensure 鈥渟chools are brilliant places to work, freeing teachers to focus on teaching great lessons鈥. Keegan鈥檚 pay offer includes a 鈥渘ew taskforce鈥 to reduce workload by five hours a week for teachers and leaders. She also suggested this week that artificial intelligence could potentially help with day-to-day tasks. Paul Whiteman, from the NAHT leadership union, called the findings a 鈥渄amning indictment of government policies which have neglected schools for over a decade, and with them, the futures of our children鈥. 鈥淭hey lay bare the unacceptable hours worked by school leaders who have lost nearly a fifth of their real-terms pay since 2010 and overwhelmingly feel that their views are not valued by policy-makers including the government.鈥 In 2019, a reduction in teachers and middle leaders鈥 average working week to 49.5 hours was heralded by the government – a reduction of 4.9 hours from 2016. Today鈥檚 report, based on a survey conducted last spring, shows teachers鈥 average working week is 48.7 hours long. 7 in 10 say workload is ‘unacceptable’ Seventy-two per cent of teachers and leaders said their workload was 鈥渦nacceptable鈥, while 62 per cent did not have sufficient control over it. Kevin Courtney Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said 鈥渘othing in this report will come as a shock to teachers and leaders鈥. 鈥淗igh workload is endemic, it is driving talented people out of the profession to find better paid work elsewhere, and the government is not doing enough to fix things.鈥 He said it was a 鈥渕ystery鈥 why the government hadn鈥檛 released the survey and said the STRB must have all the data before the 2023/24 settlement. Two-thirds of teachers said they spent over half of their time on tasks other than teaching, rising to 77 per cent among secondary teachers. General admin was the task most commonly cited as taking up 鈥渢oo much鈥 time. Some 76 per cent of teachers and leaders were not satisfied with national changes to teacher pay in the 2021-22 year, when pay was frozen for most staff. Pay problems, but teachers still like teaching Forty-four per cent of teachers and leaders said they did not receive a pay rise that year. Fifty-eight per cent said this was because they had reached the top of their scale, while 34 per cent blamed the pay freeze and 12 per cent cited budget pressures. Dr Patrick Roach Some 13 per cent reported being rarely or not at all satisfied with their job but 58 per cent were satisfied 鈥渕ost or all of the time鈥. Eighty-four per cent enjoyed classroom teaching most or all the time. Of those considering leaving the state sector, 92 per cent reported high workload as a factor, 76 per cent blamed government initiatives or policy changes and 69 per cent cited pressure around pupil outcomes or inspection. Dr Patrick Roach, the NASUWT boss, said the government had promised to publish the report and union members鈥 patience 鈥渋s being severely tested鈥. Sara Tanton, deputy policy director at the ASCL leaders鈥 union, said the report 鈥渓ays bare the crisis facing the teaching profession鈥. She said the delay in publishing the report was 鈥渆xtremely disappointing鈥. The DfE said it was 鈥渓istening to teachers about the issues that affect them which is why our offer also committed to reducing workload by five hours per week鈥.
Chris Bentley 31 March 2023 Nothing will change under the current regime. A government running schools like supermarket chains, an oppressive inspection culture and schools burdened with endless additional responsibilities. Schools used to be placed of joy, discovery and creativity. Now they are just cogs in a machine. Children are not well served by frazzled teachers who don’t know which way to turn and are dealing with ever more challenging pupils.
Tim Newbould 6 April 2023 Well said, Chris. Education secretaries/ ministers are so concerned about their own careers that the focus is on things that will look good for them in the media rather than the needs of children and young people.