Blog

Monday 11th May 2026

Are Teachers Working an Invisible Extra Day Every Week?

A recent Tes report has highlighted what many teachers will already know from experience: workload remains one of the biggest pressures facing the profession.

According to a global survey of almost 3,000 educators across 196 countries, nearly two-thirds of teachers say they are working almost an extra day each week because of increasing workload. The survey found that 38% of staff estimate they do more than nine additional hours per week, while only 4% said they are able to work within their contracted hours.

For anyone working in schools, these figures are unlikely to come as a surprise. Teaching has never been a job that ends neatly when the bell goes. Planning, marking, assessment, behaviour follow-up, emails, meetings, SEND paperwork, safeguarding concerns and parent communication all stretch far beyond classroom hours.

The Tes survey identified lesson planning as the most common cause of additional working time, cited by 73% of respondents. Administration and marking were each mentioned by 60% of those surveyed.

This matters because workload is not just a personal wellbeing issue. It affects teacher retention, recruitment, classroom energy and the quality of education pupils receive. When teachers are regularly working evenings and weekends, it becomes harder to sustain the enthusiasm, patience and creativity that good teaching requires.

The report also found that 42% of staff described themselves as very or extremely overwhelmed. Stress and workload were identified as the two biggest reasons people leave the profession, cited by 55% and 54% of respondents respectively.

There is, of course, no simple solution. Some tasks are unavoidable. Pupils need lessons planned, work assessed and support put in place. But the key question is whether schools and policymakers are doing enough to reduce unnecessary workload.

Could marking policies be simplified? Could data collection be cut back? Could meetings be shorter and more purposeful? Could technology genuinely save time rather than add another layer of expectation? Could teachers be trusted to focus more on what directly improves learning?

The survey also points to growing interest in flexible working. More than three-quarters of respondents said access to flexible or hybrid working was important or extremely important, yet 68% said they had no access to either.

That raises a difficult but important question for schools. Teaching is, by its nature, a face-to-face profession. Pupils need adults in classrooms. But there may still be room for more imaginative thinking around planning time, leadership roles, part-time working, remote meetings or flexible approaches to non-teaching tasks.

Perhaps the most telling finding is that, despite these pressures, most teachers still reported moderate to favourable job satisfaction. That says a great deal about the commitment of the profession. Teachers are not complaining because they do not care. In many cases, they are overwhelmed precisely because they care so much.

The challenge is to make teaching sustainable.

If schools want to keep experienced teachers, support new staff and protect the quality of education, workload cannot be treated as an unavoidable part of the job. It needs to be treated as a serious issue affecting the whole education system.

An invisible extra day of work each week may not appear on a timetable, but for many teachers, it is very real.

 

Wednesday 6th May 2026

Are Inclusive Schools Being Unfairly Penalised by Ofsted?

A new analysis from school leaders’ union NAHT has raised serious concerns about the way Ofsted’s new inspection framework affects schools serving disadvantaged communities and pupils with SEND.

The union reviewed more than 650 Ofsted inspection reports and found that schools with higher levels of deprivation or higher numbers of pupils with special educational needs were more likely to receive a ‘needs attention’ judgement in key areas such as achievement, attendance and behaviour.

According to the analysis, one third of schools with above-average pupil eligibility for free school meals received a ‘needs attention’ judgement for achievement. By contrast, fewer than one in five schools with below-average free school meal eligibility received the same judgement.

There was a similar pattern in attendance and behaviour. Almost a quarter of schools with above-average free school meal eligibility were judged as needing attention in this area, compared with one in ten schools with below-average eligibility. Schools with higher numbers of pupils with SEND were also more likely to be marked down for attendance and behaviour.

The findings have prompted concern because the government has repeatedly spoken about wanting more children with SEND to be educated successfully in mainstream schools. However, school leaders argue that if inspection judgements rely too heavily on national averages, schools taking an inclusive approach may be placed at a disadvantage.

This is the central issue. A school may be working extremely hard to support pupils facing poverty, complex needs, poor attendance, difficult home circumstances or significant barriers to learning. Yet if overall outcomes are still below national averages, that work may not be fully recognised in the final judgement.

NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman has argued that expecting every school to meet or exceed national averages creates an impossible demand, particularly for schools working in the most challenging circumstances. Schools Week also reported that Ofsted has said it will publish official data on inspections carried out under the revised framework, along with its own analysis.

The Local Government Association has also responded to the issue, saying that Ofsted’s framework should place greater emphasis on inclusive practice and on whether schools are meeting the needs of the communities they serve. It also warned that schools which do not play a meaningful role in supporting vulnerable children should be held to account.

For teachers and school leaders, this raises an important question: how should inspection balance outcomes with context?

No one would argue that disadvantaged pupils or pupils with SEND should be expected to achieve less. High expectations matter. But schools also need an accountability system that recognises starting points, barriers to learning and the complexity of inclusion.

If schools feel that being inclusive increases the risk of being marked down, the system may unintentionally discourage exactly the kind of practice it claims to value.

At a time when many mainstream schools are already under pressure from rising SEND need, attendance challenges, behaviour concerns and limited funding, this debate is likely to become increasingly important.

The key question is not whether schools should be accountable. They should. The question is whether the current system fairly recognises the work schools do with the pupils who need them most.

 

Tuesday 5th May 2026

Schools to Go Smartphone-Free for Year 7 Pupils

All 10 secondary schools in Brighton and Hove are set to introduce a smartphone-free approach for Year 7 pupils from September 2026.

Under the new arrangement, pupils entering secondary school will not be allowed to bring smartphones into school if the devices can access the internet, use social media or take photos and videos. The move will initially apply to Year 7 students, who are usually aged 11 to 12, with schools reviewing the impact during the 2026–2027 academic year.

The decision has been made collectively by the city’s secondary headteachers, who have written to parents explaining the reasons behind the change. School leaders say the aim is to support pupils’ learning, safety, wellbeing and social development as they make the transition from primary to secondary school.

The policy reflects a growing national debate about children’s smartphone use and the impact of mobile phones on school life. The government has already strengthened its position on phone-free schools, with ministers encouraging schools in England to keep pupils off mobile phones throughout the school day. Reports in April 2026 also said the government planned to introduce a legal ban on mobile phones in schools in England.

Supporters of smartphone-free schools argue that removing phones can help pupils concentrate more fully in lessons, reduce online distractions and encourage better face-to-face interaction during breaks and lunchtimes. Concerns around online safety, social media pressure, cyberbullying and inappropriate content have also been central to the discussion.

For Year 7 pupils, the issue is particularly important. The move from primary to secondary school is a major step, and many schools are increasingly looking for ways to help pupils build friendships, develop confidence and feel part of their new school community without the constant pull of a smartphone.

The Brighton and Hove schools have said that each school will apply the approach through its own mobile phone policy. Reviews will take place during the academic year, with the possibility that the smartphone-free model could later be extended to older year groups.

The move comes as campaigns such as Smartphone Free Childhood continue to call for children to have later access to smartphones and social media. A national petition linked to the campaign has attracted significant public support, reflecting the strength of feeling among many parents, teachers and school leaders.

For schools, parents and pupils, the debate is unlikely to disappear soon. The key challenge will be finding the right balance: helping young people develop healthy digital habits while also protecting learning time, wellbeing and real-world social interaction.

Follow us on Facebook