Teachers will be able to do more work from home under a Labour plan to boost recruitment to the profession.
Marking and lesson planning are two of the tasks that teachers could carry out away from their usual workplace under the plans.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has said the increased flexibility will prevent women from leaving the profession when they have children.
The proposals, as yet unofficial, could see schools giving teachers blocks of free periods for marking and other non-class-based work at the beginning or end of the day. This would give teachers more flexibility when it comes to looking after children and other carer roles.
Teaching
Black academics face barriers to inclusion early in careers
Rachel Reeves confirms public sector pay rises of 5-6%
A government source stated: “Unlike its predecessor, this government is taking the recruitment and retention of teachers seriously, which is why we’re making common-sense changes that enable great teachers to stay in our classrooms.”
The plans tie in with ministers’ desire to tackle a “culture of presenteeism” in the UK’s workplaces. Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said this week that giving employees the right to work from home or to ignore work emails or calls out of hours would make them more motivated.
He told The Times: “Good employers understand that their workforce, to keep them motivated and resilient, they do need to judge people on outcomes and not a culture of presenteeism.”
The Labour government has pledged to help end the recruitment crisis in schools by supplying 6,500 extra teachers and introducing a £2,400 early career retention bonus.
Its Employment Rights Bill expected this autumn is expected to grant more rights to “switch off” from work and work more flexibly.
Ministers’ moves to make teaching more attractive were supported this week by the publication of a report by education charity Teach First, which calls for every teacher to be given a “flexibility” entitlement, including short-term secondments away from school to work in other sectors and career breaks offering unpaid leave.
The Teach First report, Tomorrow’s Teachers: A Roadmap for Attracting Gen Z, found that young people were not signing up for teacher training, perceiving the sector to involve too much stress and poorly funded.
Teach First CEO Russell Hobby said: “For too long conditions in the teaching profession have failed to keep pace with what the next generation of workers crave in a career – and what they can find in other sectors.
“This means that, despite having huge respect for teachers, Gen Z are simply not signing up in sufficient numbers.”
According to Department for Education (DfE) data, nearly as many teachers left the profession in England last year as entered it. According to the school workforce census, 44,002 teachers joined in the year to November 2023, while 43,522 teachers left, with teacher vacancies up by 20%.
According to Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, the worst recruitment crisis in living memory in the sector could only be tackled by more flexible working. “Teaching needs to find ways to compete if it is to solve the recruitment and retention crisis,” he said.
A Department for Education spokesperson told The Guardian: “Teacher recruitment and retention is in a parlous state. That is why the education secretary has already begun a reset of the government’s relationship with the sector, with the intent to re-establish teaching as an attractive, expert and ultimately go-to profession for graduates.
“We are taking steps to support teachers’ wellbeing and ease workload pressures, including clarifying that teachers can carry out their planning time at home, improving flexible working for staff.”
Latest HR job opportunities on Personnel Today
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
Browse more human resources jobs
