Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 51
51
Accepted
Paragraph: 208
Education sector lags behind other professions in adopting flexible working opportunities.
Conclusion
Since the pandemic, flexible working has been widely embraced across different professions and sectors of the economy. However, this has not been replicated in the education sector. If the education sector is to remain competitive, particularly in the recruitment of graduates, more must be done to increase opportunities for flexible working in schools.
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the importance of flexible working and states it is a priority, outlining ongoing efforts such as promoting a flexible working toolkit, running communication campaigns, utilizing flexible working ambassador schools, and monitoring flexible working levels through surveys.
Paragraph Reference:
208
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
Expanding and enabling flexible working is a priority for ensuring we can attract and retain the expert teachers our children need. Ministers have expressed support for flexible working, including through clarifying the position on Planning, Preparation, and Assessment time in the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD), so schools are clear that teachers can use this time at home whilst not compromising on pupils’ face-to-face time. We continue to explore opportunities to promote the flexible working toolkit and our funded flexible working programme wherever possible. We have promoted the toolkit through a range of sector bulletins and newsletters and we ran a small-scale paid search and social campaign last year. We recently ran a comms campaign in collaboration with the Teaching Vacancies service, which aimed to build broader awareness of the benefits of flexible working in the sector, as well as to promote our wider flexible working programme. Our flexible working ambassador schools already play a central role in promoting our work, speaking at local and national sector events. We also signpost towards the toolkit in all our webinars. The toolkit was co-created with the sector, and we continue to work with a broad range of partners including flexible working experts to promote flexible working for teachers and leaders. We already monitor levels of flexible working in the sector through the Working Lives of Teachers and Leaders (WLTL) Survey and part-time rates through the School Workforce Census. The most recent WLTL survey shows that 46% of teachers and leaders have a flexible working arrangement in place, an increase from 40% seen in 2022. Whilst this is encouraging, we know there is further to go.