The Department of Education’s workload reduction taskforce was set up last year to support the government’s ambition to reduce teachers’ and leaders’ working hours by 5 hours a week within 3 years.

Teacher workload has been a hot topic in the UK for quite some time now. Teachers have been speaking out about the overwhelming amount of administrative tasks that detract from their primary responsibility - teaching. Finally, the Department for Education (DFE) has released the first draft of its plan to reduce teacher workload.  The taskforce is addressing many other issues, and a final report is planned for the Spring.

The taskforce has listed 23 administrative tasks that teachers should stop doing to reduce their workload, and one of the key changes is to remove the use of performance-related pay (PRP) from September: this has been accepted by the DfE.

Other recommendations include well-being champions, clear communication to parents and the wider public on expectations around planning, marking and feedback.

The Government has accepted all recommendations made by the taskforce apart from the recommendation of an additional INSET day.

The ‘early’ recommendations from the workload taskforce are:

• Remove performance-related pay (PRP) in time for the 2024-25 academic year and for this to be replaced with a “less bureaucratic way to manage performance fairly and transparently”. The government has pledged to conduct a "rapid" review for replacing PRP starting from September 1. They aim to establish a "less bureaucratic approach to ensure fair and transparent performance management." The details of these changes will be communicated in the Spring.

• A revised list of administrative tasks that teachers should not be required to do should be reinserted in the school teachers’ pay and conditions document (STPCD). The full list of these 23 administrative tasks include, teachers should not have the responsibility of collecting money from pupils and parents, managing cover for absent teachers, or conducting bulk photocopying. They also should not be tasked with investigating a pupil's absence or handling duties related to the organisation, decoration, and assembly of classrooms.

• All schools should be reminded of the significance of the recommendations provided by the 2016 independent workload review groups and 2018 Workload Advisory Group. Additionally, it is important to raise awareness of the education staff wellbeing charter. Communications should be aimed at teachers, leaders, governors, trustees and local authorities.

• Schools may want to consider using INSET time to look at addressing workload issues and the DfE should consider remitting the STRB to include an additional INSET day, at the earliest opportunity. The Government has said another INSET day is “not the right course of action”. Instead, they will work with schools to “make use” of the current five INSET days for workload reduction.

• The DfE may want to consider having a designated governor as a “wellbeing champion”.

• The DfE should commit to enhancing knowledge and accessibility of the School Workload Reduction Toolkit. This includes improving the design for users but also ensuring case studies and resources “remain relevant”.

• Schools and trusts should consider assigning a senior leader with dedicated responsibility for improving wellbeing and reducing workload.

• The DfE should modify the guidance provided to governors and trustees, ensuring that the core function of strategic leadership includes taking into account staff workload and wellbeing when establishing the strategic priorities of the school or trust.

• Ofsted should revise and reissue their "Clarification for Schools" as a standalone document, placing renewed emphasis on "what is not necessary in terms of marking, planning, and data”, and communicate it clearly to schools and trusts as well as publicly via social media to improve reach to all audiences.

• The DfE should provide communications and guidance to parents on what the review group recommends relating to marking and feedback.

• The DfE and Ofsted should publish a joint update on their “success in maintaining the commitments they made to accept and implement the recommendations”.

• The DfE should actively endorse and integrate a wide array of flexible working options within schools. This should involve raising awareness about the assistance provided, such as the funded webinar program and personalized coaching offered by Flexible Working Ambassador MATS and schools (FWAMS), as well as the Flexible Working Toolkit.

• The DfE should develop additional case studies on effective flexible working solutions that schools and trusts have implemented.

• The DfE, schools, trusts, local authorities and teaching and leadership unions should each promote the value of union health and safety representatives and workplace health and safety committees in improving wellbeing, facilitating charter sign-up, and ensuring the benefits of signing up are felt across the workforce.

• The DfE should consider ways to acknowledge and appreciate those who commit to the wellbeing charter. This could involve sharing success stories that showcase the benefits of signing up and utilising the available resources.

• The DfE in collaboration with the partners from the initial Expert Advisory Group on Wellbeing, ought to undertake a thorough review of the charter's content by 2025. This will involve establishing a task and finish group in 2024 to ensure its ongoing relevance and appropriateness.

• DfE should “continue to embed” the review and advisory groups’ recommendations throughout initial teacher training (ITT), the early career framework (ECF) and the national professional qualifications (NPQs), including through working with providers.

• All school and trust governance bodies should publicly commit to and actively promote the recommendations of the workload review and advisory groups.

The DFE's taskforce reduction document is available to view here.

In conjunction with the taskforce document, 2019 saw the launch of the DFE’s Teacher Retention Programme, designed to address challenges in teacher recruitment and retention. This program aims to reduce unnecessary teacher workload, ensure teachers receive the training and development they need, and ensure teachers have access to flexible working arrangements.

On 20 March 2023 the Education Committee launched an inquiry into teacher recruitment, training and retention. Its scope included the effectiveness of the DfE strategy. The inquiry’s report is due to be published in 2024. 

What progress has been made up until now?

During the summer of 2023, the government officially approved a 6.5% raise in teacher salaries, starting from autumn of the same year and backdated to 1^st September 2023. The rise will benefit all pay scales, allowing the government to fulfil its commitment of increasing starting salaries to £30,000.

Furthermore, there have been additional announcements regarding the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter, which prioritizes the welfare of school personnel as a key aspect of DfE policy.

What happens next?

The government taskforce will no examine various themes such as the effects and unintended outcomes of accountability on workload, which will include school inspection.

Also, up for scrutiny are the contractual provisions in the STPCD, technological solutions, the impact of pressures on public services, parental expectations and grievances, and the overall culture within the education system.

Additionally, they will urgently explore further alternatives to enhance the implementation of the workload review group's recommendations from 2016.

The group will present their final suggestions to the government, Ofsted, and school and trust leaders in the spring. They assert that these recommendations will aid the government's objective of reducing teachers' and leaders' work hours by five hours per week within three years, allowing them to prioritize high-quality teaching.

Teaching union response

The general secretaries of school leaders’ union NAHT; the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL); and National Education Union (NEU) have welcomed the recommendations and pleased the initial set have been accepted, in particular removing the use of performance related pay.

The Department for Education's recent release of its draft plan to reduce teacher workload is a step in the right direction. Teachers have been crying out for support, and these proposed activities are a great starting point. However, it is equally important that the DFE's teacher retention program is taken seriously and is implemented effectively to ensure that the UK's education system attracts and retains high-quality teachers. We hope that schools within the UK don't just view this taskforce document as another box to be ticked, but rather that it ignites change to improve the lives of the teachers who work tirelessly to educate our future generations.