Value educators

Teachers' workload in the UK is more intensive and longer hours than any other profession. It is time to reclaim your professional lives.

Stress and exhaustion are not only the product of excessive working hours but also having too little professional discretion, with key workplace decisions about the curriculum and teaching strategies made without you. 

It is time for education professionals to be valued. It is time for their professional views, based on their experience and expertise, to be heard. 

The Value Educators campaign aims to 

  • help you and colleagues take action together over unnecessary workload driven by workplace accountability. 

  • help your union group bargain for improvements with your leadership team, and escalate if necessary. 

  • through strong advice and national guidance, help your union group achieve change on workload, and other professional issues.

Steps you can take to Value Educators?

  1. Go to our Value Educators Hub for all our materials, resources and support available.
  2. Hold an NEU meeting, complete the audit and highlight which points are statutory requirements.
  3. Discuss and agree changes with your head/SLT to reduce workload in the areas identified by your group.
  4. As a group prioritise the two or three issues you want to raise with the head/SLT first.
  5. Knowing how strongly members feel and whether they are prepared to take any action if necessary, should inform this process.
  6. Adapt and send the stage 1 model letter to your head to arrange a meeting or add workload to the agenda of your regular JNCC.
  7. Hold a members’ meeting to discuss the outcome of negotiations. Contact your branch or regional office to discuss the support they can offer to escalate your campaign to win a workload reduction in your workplace.

Help on organising a meeting
 

How reps and branches have improved workload

Reps describe their workload wins

Further workload advice

  • Directed time ccampaign clock image
    Directed Time

    How many hours you should be at work and available for work. Calculate directed time for your workplace.

  • Advice Marking
    Workload : marking

    What a marking policy should look like in your school and how to use our model checklist in your workplace.

  • Male and female teacher chatting
    Workload advice

    Advice on workload and reducing it for different educational settings.

Want to get involved or need further assistance?

Your first point of contact for advice and support from the union should be your National Education Union workplace representative.

If you don't know who that is, contact your branch or district. You can get contact details by telling us which local authority you work in:

I work in: