Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 55
55
Acknowledged
Paragraph: 227
School leaders lack understanding of flexible working's impact on pupil learning and finances.
Conclusion
There is a lack of understanding about how flexibility would impact schools, particularly the impact on pupils’ learning and school finances. Further information on this is required in order for school leaders to be able to implement flexible working policies with confidence that these are not going to have a negative impact on learning outcomes or school finances.
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the need for more information and states it is continuously building its evidence base through ongoing data collections, existing research, and monitoring its funded flexible working programme. It also plans stakeholder interviews and is seeking STRB's views.
Paragraph Reference:
227
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
Whilst it is difficult to isolate the impact which flexibility has on either teaching and learning for pupils or teacher retention, we are continuously working to build our flexible working evidence base through our ongoing data collections. In 2023, the Department published research exploring the perceived financial and non-financial costs and benefits of teachers and leaders working flexibly. An overriding theme was that the benefits of flexible working were generally seen to outweigh the costs, as leaders felt that flexible working helped retain good staff and improved teacher wellbeing, which was perceived to ultimately lead to better pupil outcomes. We continue to monitor our funded flexible working programme and build our evidence on its effectiveness. We plan to interview stakeholders to explore what has worked well and identify areas for improvement as well as look at the profile of schools that have been supported. We remain close to wider research, including projects run by the Education Endowment Foundation to understand the impact of PPA time offsite and a 9-day fortnight for teachers. Findings will help inform our future policy work. The Secretary of State has also asked for the STRB’s views on how the current pay framework can best support flexible working, which will help to build our wider understanding of potential barriers to implementation. We will continue to consider future opportunities for research.