Decisive action taken to reduce teacher workload

A survey of 836 school leaders and over 1,000 classroom teachers has revealed that school management are taking decisive action to reduce teacher workload.

The findings show that 94 per cent of leaders reported reducing workload related to marking, compared to 88 per cent at this time last year. Additionally, 78 per cent reported they had reduced workload related to planning, compared to 71 per cent last year.

Just under half of leaders surveyed said that they were already making use of the Department of Education’s Workload Reduction Toolkit - a series of online resources to help school leaders crack down on unnecessary workload.

Conducted twice a year, the school snapshot survey, which aims to provide an insight into teachers’ and school leaders’ views across a range of departmental policy areas, also shows that the number of schools with a designated lead for pupil mental health has significantly increased - from 70 per cent in 2017 to 82 per cent in 2018, with a major jump at primary level, from 67 per cent to 81 per cent.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds said: “The number of hours teachers work, particularly on unnecessarily burdensome tasks outside the classroom, was the very first issue I wanted to tackle when I took on this role. So it’s hugely encouraging to see school leaders having the confidence to do away with those unnecessary tasks that are stopping teachers from doing what they do best.

“The results of the TALIS survey published last month show there is still a long way to go to address all of the frustrations I regularly hear from teachers and heads. However, I intend to continue my battle to reduce teachers’ workload and back schools who make sure they are doing everything they can to reduce the number of hours teachers are spending on non-teaching tasks.”