Almost half of teachers work in the evenings

A quarter of teachers work more than 60 hours a week, including evenings and weekends, according to a study by the University College London (UCL). On average, teachers will work 47 hours a week during term time, but 10% will be working more than 65 hours per week. To put this into context, secondary school teachers will work 49 hours per week while the average for all OECD countries is 41 hours. Teachers in Finland, for example, work an average 34-hour week. Full-time secondary school teachers also spend just as much time during the week working on management, administration and lesson planning as they do actually teaching every week, attributing 20 hours to each. To keep up with their workloads, almost half of teachers will work in the evenings and 10% will work during the weekend.

Longer working hours for teachers 'are a myth': One-in-four in England work a 60-hour week but average has been stable for a generation despite pledges to reduce their workload (Daily Mail) 1 in 4 teachers work over 60 hours a week – but that’s not why they’re leaving (Schools Week) One in four teachers work more than 60 hours a week (Nursery World) One in four teachers in England work 60-hour week despite government clampdown, study finds (The Independent) Seven key findings about teachers’ working hours (IOE London Blog) Workload: 1 in 4 teachers works a 60-hour week (TES) Teachers 'have worked long hours for many years' (BBC) Workload: 'Bureaucracy is ruining teachers' lives' (TES)

Why should this matter to me? In response to being urged to take ‘more radical action’, the government says that they have been making efforts to reduce workload, shown by the '94 per cent of surveyed school leaders [that] report they have taken action to reduce workload related to marking.’ Most schools are looking for ways to reduce the workload of their staff to reduce stress and aid teacher retention issues. Any product that simplifies management, administration and lesson planning would be welcomed by these schools.