A reasonable workload and work-life balance is an important factor in retaining and recruiting teachers, and providing education of the highest quality to students. Colleges will work with staff and the recognised unions to reduce workload so that teachers can focus on teaching and learning.
Teachers work in directed and undirected time in order to carry out their core role of educating students by planning and teaching and assessing student progress. In delivering high quality teaching and learning it is important that teachers are not made to work unreasonably long hours or given excessive levels of work. Local discussions on reducing workload must balance the needs of colleges, the work-life balance of teachers, and the best interests of students.
The overall workload level for staff should be considered in the round, and colleges should work with staff and unions to review/audit annually the tasks that are carried out by teachers and eliminate those which no longer need to be done or do not require the professional expertise of a teacher. Colleges should work to create a culture where governors, leaders and staff are committed to monitoring and managing levels of workload.
Administrative Tasks
It has been a long-standing principle that teachers should not ordinarily be required to carry out tasks which are largely administrative or clerical in nature and which do not require the professional expertise of a teacher.
The key test for administrative tasks must be:
- Does it need to be done at all?
- Is the task of an administrative or clerical nature?
- Does it call for the exercise of a teacher’s professional skills or judgement?
If the answers to a) and b) are yes but the answer to c) is no, then the task should not be carried out by a teacher.
The list below contains a number of examples, and should apply to teachers, middle leaders and senior leaders.
List of some of the administrative tasks that a teacher should not normally be expected to undertake beyond the routine planning as part of the teaching process:
- Reformatting entry or re-entry of data into multiple systems
- Creation or duplication of files and paperwork perceived to be required in anticipation of inspection, such as evidence portfolios
- Invigilation, beyond limited requests to do so which will be kept to a minimum as per Appendix 9 of the Red Book.
- Investigating student absence beyond reasonable pastoral expectation
- Producing and collating analyses of attendance figures
- Administration of public or internal exams
- Administration (excluding risk assessments) relating to college visits, trips and residentials (including booking venues, collecting forms and recording lunch requirements) and of work experience that does not call for the professional skills or judgement of a teacher
- Ordering, setting up and maintaining ICT equipment, software and virtual learning environments, subject to current college processes and arangements
- Cataloguing, preparing, issuing, stocktaking and maintaining materials and equipment, or logging the absence of such
- Administration of cover for absent teachers
- Bulk photocopying
Communication and emails
Teachers receive many emails and messages from staff, parents and students daily and reading and responding to such correspondence is time consuming. When sending emails staff will consider the required audience of the email. There will not normally be an expectation by staff, students and parents that an email will be responded to immediately or outside the college day.
Annual Calendar
Colleges will produce an annual calendar for the start of each year as part of good practice which will include key meetings, open events and assessment and reporting deadlines. There should be meaningful consultation with staff and the recognised unions in the preceding academic year. For the avoidance of doubt, the calendar should not be added to or amended or altered other than in exceptional cases. A hard copy of the calendar will be available to (emailed to) all staff normally at the start of the academic year. Where there is a need to make an addition to the calendar, the change should be notified in good time and will be within the contingency allocated in directed time. Where possible another event may be cancelled to accommodate additional events.
Meetings
Meetings will not normally take place in breaks, lunch breaks or outside directed time. All meetings will take place within the college’s directed time calendar, which will have been consulted on before and published at the start of the academic year in accordance with the Directed Time principles and annual calendar. Meetings should not normally overrun the time allocated.
Open Evenings and Parents’ evenings
The pattern of open evenings, parents’ evenings and open days will be included in the annual calendar and the directed time calendar and will be consulted on annually. The number and frequency of open evenings and days at the start of the academic year will be taken into account in producing a reasonable calendar. Where such events take place at the weekend, there should be consideration of providing TOIL in the working week within a reasonable time frame.
Use of online platforms
Arrangements and policies around the posting of work on online platforms e.g. Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) will be consulted on with the teaching staff and unions. Teachers will not be required to provide the same information on two separate platforms, except where there is a need for safeguarding purposes. Colleges will ensure that reducing workload is a focus of their IT strategy and training will be provided for all staff. The workload impact of new technology will be monitored and evaluated.
Data and assessment
Marking and feedback policies should allow for teachers to use their professional judgement as to what is meaningful, manageable and motivating. Colleges will consult with staff and recognised unions to develop marking and feedback policies that minimise the workload of staff.
Colleges will work with staff and recognised unions to ensure that systems for managing and collecting summative assessment minimise workload burdens on teachers.
The assessment calendar will be consulted on and teachers will not be subject to unreasonable deadlines for assessment results and report writing. Colleges will normally review their data collection timetable annually to minimise data collections.
Colleges will work to streamline reporting requirements.
Ofsted
Any request for work involved in preparing for an Ofsted inspection, or during said inspection will be considered carefully, with teachers’ workload in mind. Teachers will not be expected to prepare additional portfolios of evidence to prepare for a potential or future Ofsted inspection.
Workload impact assessment of new initiatives and annual workload audit
Where a new initiative, task or policy is introduced, there should be consultation with staff and recognised unions, and it should be workload impact assessed. There should be action to remove other tasks before the introduction of such an initiative or task in order to compensate. There should not be an assumption that additional tasks may be added without the removal of other tasks. During the academic year, colleges and unions should audit workload. Consideration of this audit should inform decisions on which tasks may be eliminated or modified.
Part-time staff
Part-time staff will be considered when reviewing workload and planning the annual calendar. Part-time staff will not be put to a detriment. Part-time staff will not be expected to work on days when they are not contracted to teach.