Teachers Now Working A 56-Hour Week

As the four major teaching unions threaten a 35-hour week, a recent MORI poll reveals that 60 per cent of British teachers are now working at least 56 hours a week.

As the four major teaching unions threaten a 35-hour week, a recent MORI poll reveals that 60 per cent of British teachers are now working at least 56 hours a week.

The poll, which was commissioned by GOAL [Global On-line Assessment of Learning] plc, was conducted last month (March 13-26) among a representative sample of 1001 teachers in England and Wales. GOAL's ICT based assessments slash the time teachers spend on assessing pupils by testing and marking National Curriculum subjects online.

Overall 90 per cent of teachers are working at least 45 hours a week, including 80 per cent who work for more than 50 hours. For some the reality is even harsher with 17 per cent working 16 hours at home.

The Leamington Spa company realised that teachers were working many more hours than they were being recognised for and wanted to know the amount of time that teachers spent on assessment specifically - writing and preparing tests, marking them and then analysing and reporting.

In the process, MORI revealed some additional facts concerning the hours that teachers work - both at school and at home.

Former head teacher Gareth Newman, who has a CBE for services to education, is the man behind GOAL, whose system can save teachers up to seven hours a week (the equivalent of one working day) by releasing them from setting and marking assessments.

GOAL uses technology to set questions in National Curriculum subjects and then marks and analyses the results within minutes, giving pupils a National Curriculum level and highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. The system also contributes to the data requirements of schools through the use of attitude, potential and classroom climate tests administered online.

"These statistics do not surprise us," said Mr Newman. "We have known for years what pressures teachers were under, which is why we sought to lessen their load by creating a system which would enable them to spend less time with assessments and more time teaching," he said.

The survey showed a quarter of teachers was involved in testing pupils at least once a week. Some seventy per cent thought that the assessments could be more effective and three-quarters said that technology could be utilised more to help relieve assessment pressures.

Key findings

Teacher working time in school and at home

  • 90 per cent work at least 45 hours
  • 80 per cent work at least 51 hours
  • 60 per cent work at least 56 hours

Teacher working time in school

  • 74 per cent work at least 45 hours
  • 91 per cent work at least 35 hours

Teachers working time at home

  • 80 per cent work at least 45 hours
  • 91 per cent work at least 35 hours

Technical details

MORI interviewed a total of 1,001 teachers in England and Wales between 13-26 March 2001 by telephone using CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing). Quotas were set by region, type of school (secondary or primary) and subject taught.

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