Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the findings of the research on teachers' working hours, published by the Education Policy Institute on 10 October 2016, whether she plans to make an assessment of the findings in that research.

The Education Policy Institute (EPI) report, ‘Teacher workload and professional development in England’s secondary schools: insights from TALIS’, uses data based on the 2013 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) which was published in June 2014. We have already taken extensive action based on this survey and other evidence.

Through the Workload Challenge, launched in October 2014, we asked teachers to share their experiences, ideas and solutions on how to tackle unnecessary and unproductive workload. We published the response to the Workload Challenge in February 2015. This included a comprehensive programme of action to help address the complex issues that were raised.

In addition, we established three new groups to address the three biggest concerns that teachers raised in the Workload Challenge - ineffective marking, use of planning and resources and data management

We published their reports on 26 March. They were welcomed by the sector and the report from the EPI is clear that the department is right to focus on these areas. The groups set out clear principles about what should happen in schools, and made recommendations to be taken at every level in the school system.

We have accepted all the recommendations for Government. However, as the reports make clear, it is for everybody involved in education to act on the principles and recommendations in these reports.

We are continuing to work with teachers and their representatives on how to effectively embed the principles in the reports, and help make a culture change so teachers can focus on teaching and not unnecessary bureaucracy and paperwork.

We have also conducted the first biennial Teacher Workload Survey, a commitment from the Workload Challenge. The report is due to be published later this year. Results from this survey, and those in future years, will help us track teacher workload so that further action can be taken if needed.