Reducing teacher workload

Schools in England have three official things to use against excess workload: Annex 6 of the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document, which lists admin tasks teachers should not be expected to do; the DfE’s free workload reduction toolkit, now part of its Improve workload and wellbeing for school staff service; and the recommendations of the Workload Reduction Taskforce. None of them sets a cap on hours. They give you wording and evidence to use with your head, your union rep or your governors. For the legal limits on working time, see the teacher workload guide.

The Annex 6 list of tasks

The 2026 STPCD includes Annex 6, an updated version of the “21 tasks list” that was in the document until 2013. It says teachers should not ordinarily be asked to do tasks that are largely administrative or clerical and do not need a teacher’s professional expertise. It gives three tests for any task:

1. Does it need to be done at all?
2. Is it administrative or clerical?
3. Does it need a teacher’s professional skills or judgement?

If the answers are yes, yes and no, the task should not routinely fall to a teacher. A task does not have to happen daily to be routine: collating reports once a year is still routine. Safeguarding is the exception the Annex spells out, since recording a disclosure made to you is part of a teacher’s role.

The list is not exhaustive. Examples include re-entering data into several systems, producing photographic evidence of practical lessons, creating files in anticipation of inspection, administering exams, sending bulk communications to parents, booking trips, moving classroom furniture, ordering supplies, collecting money, arranging cover and taking verbatim notes or minutes. The principles apply to leading practitioners and leaders too.

Annex 6 binds maintained schools through the STPCD. Academies set their own terms, so check your contract and ask whether your trust follows the document.

The DfE toolkit

The original toolkit on GOV.UK was withdrawn on 26 March 2024 and replaced by a DfE service, Improve workload and wellbeing for school staff. It has a workload reduction toolkit, a staff wellbeing toolkit linked to the education staff wellbeing charter, a flexible working toolkit and guidance on bringing in new initiatives without adding to workload. The resources are written by school leaders for school leaders, and they are free.

The workload toolkit has sections on identifying the problem (including a staff workload survey and workshop slides), wellbeing and workload, data management, feedback and marking, curriculum planning, behaviour and communications. The old GOV.UK page said schools that took part in an evaluated project improved workload and wellbeing after acting on what their own survey found. It suggested using staff meetings or INSET time to run the exercises.

What the taskforce recommended

The Workload Reduction Taskforce was set up in 2023 and includes representatives of all four teaching unions. The government’s stated aim is to reduce working hours for teachers and leaders by five hours a week within three years. Its initial recommendations, in January 2024, included:

• putting the list of administrative tasks back into the STPCD
• removing the requirement for performance related pay, which the government accepted
• reminding schools of the 2016 independent review groups’ recommendations on marking, planning and data
• asking schools to consider a senior leader with dedicated responsibility for wellbeing and workload
• Ofsted republishing its “Clarification for Schools” document

The government decided against adding an extra INSET day, and said it would encourage schools to use the existing five for workload. This guide has not verified what the taskforce’s later work or the five-hour aim achieved, so check GOV.UK for the current position.

Using this at your school

Start with Annex 6. If you are asked to do something on the list, you can quote the paragraph and ask whether it needs doing at all. A workload survey from the toolkit gives your head something concrete to act on, and your union rep may be able to raise it formally. A school can also use an INSET day for workload, as the taskforce suggested. For a change that affects your own hours, such as part-time work or job share, the flexible working guide explains the statutory process. If the pressure is affecting your health, the burnout guide and your GP are the next stops. The trade unions guide shows who can represent you.