Teachers are working over 50 hours a week to meet workload demands

Teachers are working more than 50 hours a week on average, according to research by the Department for Education.

The Teachers Workload Survey shows that classroom teachers and middle leaders work around 53 hours per week, while primary classroom teachers work a higher amount of 55.5 hours.

The department quizzed more than 3,000 teachers in 218 randomly selected schools and found that 93 per cent said that workload in their school was at least a “fairly serious problem”.

More than half of respondents stated that it was a “very serious problem”.

The report also suggests that secondary school senior leaders worked even longer hours, with 62.1 hours per week, in comparison to the 59.8 worked in primary schools.

Around one-third of part-time teachers stated that 40 per cent of their working hours were worked outside of school hours.

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT union, commented: “The education of children and young people will not be improved if teachers remain shackled to workload demands that are impossible to deliver.

“The Government’s own evidence confirms that the crisis in teacher retention and recruitment is a direct result of excessive workload coupled with real-terms cuts to teachers’ pay.”

Keates added: “A coherent Government–wide strategy is needed which secures effective downward pressure to the workload and working hours which are driving teachers and headteachers out of the profession.”