Excessive workload driving head teachers away

By: Alex Wilson

Work Experience student

Wednesday 26 March 2014

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3 in 10 senior members of staff in schools are planning to leave according to recent workload figures.

The official figures show that head teachers are working on average 63 hours a week with 82% of staff claiming their workload has increased since last year.

Despite this, a Department for Education spokesperson claims “teaching has never been more attractive”.

There is also a lack of trust between teachers and Ofsted inspectors with 65% of people saying they don’t have confidence in the accuracy of the inspector’s judgments, though they rate the inspectors themselves highly, with 57% either ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’.

However the same senior staff insist they don’t feel supported by the government with 60% strongly disagreeing with the proposition that the government was "supportive of the teaching profession".

ASCL Leader Brian Lightman said that, “school leaders aren’t afraid of hard work but when they are running to stand still in a climate of uncertainty, they are wondering whether their efforts are worth it”.

He also stated that “head teachers have always put in long hours. This isn’t new. What has changed is the piecemeal and frenetic pace of policy changes and the expected nerves with the Ofsted inspections.”

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Lindsay Plumpton

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David Grailey

Chief Executive
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Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

Policy Leader
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Esme Winch

Managing Director
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Michael Lemin

Policy and Research Manager
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