Recommendation 63

HM Government Acknowledged

The government recognises that workload is one of the biggest drivers for teachers and leaders leaving the profession and is driven by a range of complex and systemic drivers at national and local level with no single solution. We appreciate the significant time and contributions by members of the Workload Reduction Taskforce in reviewing this important matter and building a collective understanding of the current drivers of high workload across the school system and what this means in practice for individual teachers, leaders and schools. We have made good progress in implementing the Workload Reduction Taskforce’s initial recommendations which were published in January 2024, including following an observation from the School Teacher Review Body, from 1 September this year, we have removed the requirement for schools to use Performance Related Pay. We have also launched our new Improving Workload and Wellbeing online service in spring this year and continued to promote the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter with nearly 4000 schools now signed up. The findings from the Taskforce provide a strong foundation for addressing some of the longstanding and often systemic workload issues and much activity is already underway across the Department and wider government to tackle these issues, for example: The number of pupils experiencing complex barriers to learning has increased and this has workload implications, such as in adapting teaching, administrative tasks and wider social support to children and their families. In July, we announced a new Child Poverty Taskforce co-chaired by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education. The Taskforce will publish its strategy later this year. Our reforms to special educational needs and disability will improve inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs. • The government has also committed to providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, increasing access to early support for pupils to address problems before they escalate. • The Curriculum and Assessment Review launched in July and chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE, will among other things, seek to ensure that the curriculum and assessment system does not place undue burdens on education staff and, wherever possible, supports manageable and sustainable workloads for teachers, lecturers, support staff and leaders. • We are supporting schools to use technology effectively to help reduce workload including investment in reliable and safe technology infrastructure, harnessing the safe use of artificial intelligence and releasing a single sign-on standalone service (‘DfE Connect’) which aims to streamline the guidance and mandatory tasks school leaders and school business professionals can access on Gov.uk. Workload and retention are early priorities for this government, and we will build on the findings from the Taskforce by working together with the sector to identify where further action is needed and how best to monitor progress. The Secretary of State is committed to resetting the relationship with the sector and alongside unions and employer organisations is implementing a new way of working on priority areas for reform, learning from the experience of the Workload Reduction Taskforce. This is part of the government’s reset with the profession, where we work together in the push for better, building on decades of the sector’s experience and excellence. Developing these new ways of working will inform policy design and approaches to implementation, to ensure a high-quality expert education workforce that delivers excellence for all our children and young people.