Recommendation 20

The Department does not offer experienced teachers any financial incentives to stay, such as bursaries or retention payments, or structured support, such as the Early Career Framework for those with up to two years of experience. The Department’s ability to influence teacher workload and working patterns is limited, with school and college leaders responsible 46 Q 30; C&AG’s Report, para 1.11 47 C&AG’s Report, paras 2.24-2.26 48 Q 34 16 for setting the conditions, arrangements and the overarching culture. However, the Department can support schools and colleges in improving the working environment.49 The Department provides support and guidance to schools and colleges, which includes: • A wellbeing charter for schools and colleges to sign-up to, setting out their commitments.50 We challenged the Department on whether it was fit for purpose given that only 17% of eligible schools and colleges had signed up. The Department recognised it needs to do more to encourage take up and are considering whether the charter’s promotion or content needs to be refreshed.51 • Working with Education Endowment Foundation to build its evidence base on flexible working.52 While the school teaching workforce is predominantly female, 26% of female teachers worked part-time in 2023–24, compared with 37% of female employees in the UK labour market.53 Written evidence from the Maternity Teacher Paternity Teacher Project states that “teaching is incompatible with motherhood”.54 The Department could provide some good practice, mentioning Dixons academy in Bradford who had implemented nine- day fortnights. We also asked how fathers are expected be teachers with just two-weeks paternity leave. While the Department said this is for schools and teaching unions to negotiate it agreed to look at this in the Burgundy Book and signalled intentions to look at how this could be improved.55