NEWS NEWS...
Teachers spend up to a day a week on admin instead of teaching, new analysis finds
School leaders warn administrative workload is rising across England, with staff spending hours each day on non-teaching tasks. Analysis from Access Education suggests disconnected systems across schools require staff to duplicate data entry and manually reconcile information.
Government-commissioned research published in 2023 found that teachers and middle leaders reported spending an average of around two hours per day on administrative tasks, equivalent to approximately 10 hours per week. As multi-academy trusts grow, this challenge becomes more complex, driven by greater operational scale and rising volumes of data. Leaders say the issue is not the administrative tasks themselves, but how they are managed across multiple systems.
These tasks include safeguarding, attendance and communication with parents, but staff are often required to enter, check and reconcile data across multiple platforms.
As schools and trusts grow, many operate across separate platforms for finance, HR, curriculum planning, safeguarding and parent communication. This can limit visibility and slow decision-making at both school Peter Waller, Director at University of Chicha Multi-Academy Trust, said: “We’ve got multiple systems doing different parts of the job, but they’re not joined up. We need one connected system that brings everything together and saves time for staff across the trust.”
Leaders say this creates additional pressure, with staff often required to act as the link between systems rather than focusing on higher-value work. This reflects a wider challenge across schools, where disconnected systems are adding to workload and taking time away from teaching. Emma Slater, a school operations specialist at Access Education and former teacher, commented: “Administrative work is a necessary part of running a school, but the challenge many leaders face is how that work is carried out. “Two hours a day is a significant amount of time in a school environment. That is time that could be spent supporting pupils, planning lessons or working with staff. When that time is absorbed by administrative processes, it has a direct impact on how schools operate day to day. “When systems don’t connect, staff are forced to spend time bringing information together instead of acting on it.
“As trusts grow, this becomes more complex. Leaders need a clear view across finance, staffing and operations, but too often that information sits in different places.”
The research also highlights that administrative demands have increased in recent years, driven by rising SEND requirements, accountability pressures and greater communication with parents.
Many tasks are time-sensitive and arise throughout the day, particularly those linked to safeguarding and pupil wellbeing, making workload difficult to plan and manage.
Harry Whitaker, Chief Financial Officer at Owlcotes Multi-Academy Trust, said: “At the moment, we’re inputting data into multiple systems. Having one connected system where data is entered once and flows across finance, HR, payroll and school systems will be a huge time saving for us.” What should be a single action can become multiple steps, increasing workload and delaying decisions.
Slater added: “This is not about removing necessary work. It’s about making sure it can be completed efficiently. When systems work together, schools can reduce duplication, improve visibility and give leaders more time to focus on improving outcomes for pupils.”
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www.education-today.co.uk
All Merseyside schools to see rollout of free Pol-Ed PSHE programme
Every school across Merseyside is now being invited to take advantage of free access to a major new PSHE education programme aimed at keeping children safe, thanks to investment from the Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership (MVRP). The Pol-Ed programme - developed by teachers and quality-assured by policing professionals - provides a full suite of classroom-ready lessons designed to help children understand risk, consequences and the law, while strengthening their resilience and wellbeing. The MVRP has fully funded access to the resources on behalf of all schools and educational settings, making the entire programme completely free from early years to post-16. The roll out is part of its approach to equipping schools to be safeguarding hubs and is being delivered in partnership with Merseyside Police.
The resources will go live online from 15 April onwards and two free events are being held on the launch day to support schools and educational organisations to get started.
Professionals are invited to attend the sessions at the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner on Mather Avenue in Liverpool: • Primary education session: 9:30am – 11:30am Register here: Pol Ed launch for Merseyside (primary)
• Secondary and youth input session: 12:30 – 14:30 Register here: Pol Ed launch for Merseyside (secondary)
All attendees will receive full access for themselves and their school immediately following the launch.
Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell said: “Keeping our children and young people safe is vital and giving them the knowledge and confidence to make positive choices is critical to doing that.
“Pol-Ed provides teachers with trusted, high-quality lessons that help children understand risks, consequences and the law in a way that is engaging, age-appropriate and easy to deliver. “By making Pol-Ed free for every school in Merseyside, we’re removing barriers and ensuring that all pupils - wherever they live and whatever their background - have access to this fantastic resource. I’d encourage all schools and education providers to sign up today and to attend one of our launch sessions on 15 April.”
Originally created by West Yorkshire Police, Pol-Ed is designed to help keep children and young people safe by providing teachers with a comprehensive package of high-quality, ready-to-use educational materials that meet all statutory PSHE requirements, including fully planned lesson content, assemblies, Pol-Ed Passport sessions taught live from the
Pol-Ed.co.uk platform, and year-group-specific schemes of work
These resources equip teachers with everything they need to build pupils’ knowledge, strengthen key protective factors, and support positive, informed choices.
The online resource already contains more than 250 lessons, with a minimum of 20 lessons per year group, with new materials regularly being added.
A number of Merseyside-specific resources will also be available on the site, including a suite of educational resources previously funded by the MVRP and created by the Ariel Trust on issues including grassing and grooming, consent and online abuse.
April 2026
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