Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government plans to take to reduce teacher workload.

High-quality teaching is the single most important school-based factor determining how well pupils achieve. The Department for Education is committed to supporting the profession and reducing unnecessary teacher workload is an absolute priority.

The Department published its response to the Workload Challenge[1] on 6 February in which it set out a comprehensive programme of action to address the complex issues which have led to unnecessary workload.

The actions include:

• A commitment from Ofsted not to change their handbook or framework during the school year, except when absolutely necessary;

• giving schools more notice of significant changes to the curriculum, exams and accountability, and not making changes to qualifications in the academic year or during a course, unless there are urgent reasons for doing so;

• making it easier for teachers to find examples of what works in other schools, and research about the best way to carry out tasks like marking, data management and planning;

• providing support for headteachers by reviewing all leadership training, including coaching and mentoring; and

• tracking teacher workload by carrying out a large scale biennial survey from early spring 2016.

[1] www.gov.uk/government/publications/workload-challenge-for-schools-government-response