The government has been inundated with responses from teachers to its Workload Challenge, the Department for Education has revealed.

Tens of thousands of professionals responded to the call made by the deputy prime minister Nick Clegg and secretary of state for education Nick Morgan.

At the time of writing, 30,877 teachers have got in touch putting forward their ideas, solutions and experiences about this sensitive topic.

Some of these include dedicating more time to planning and assessment; cutting down on the bureaucracy of data collection; and establishing clear Ofsted guidance.

Responding to the overwhelming response, Ms Morgan thanked all who had shared their proposals for cutting down and managing teacher workload.

"We want teachers to tell us about what helps them to manage their workload, what they think wastes time, and what the government, schools and others should be doing to reduce unnecessary and unproductive workload," she continued.

"As a result of our programme of talks with teacher unions, we are already addressing the misconceptions that have previously added to teachers’ workload."

She added that once she and her colleagues have collated all the responses, a "new sector challenge panel" – made up of headteachers and teachers – will be set up to work out viable solutions.

This will be headed up by Ms Morgan and schools minister David Laws. Together they will produce a plan of action which will be published in the New Year.

"Day in, day out, teachers across the country are working phenomenally hard to help children reach their full potential," Mr Laws said.

"We want teaching to be a rewarding and fulfilling profession. But we know that too often, precious time is taken up with unnecessary tasks that are of little benefit to teachers or pupils."

He concluded that the government is keen on working with the entire teaching profession to "reduce this burden".