This page is about schools in England. It does not cover Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
The documents that apply
- School teachers’ pay and conditions document 2026 (STPCD), dated 14 October 2026 and valid from 1 September 2026. It covers teachers in local-authority-maintained schools; in an academy, check what staff contracts say. The workload paragraphs: work/life balance (53.4, page 50), PPA time (also printed as 53.4, under ‘Guaranteed planning and preparation time’ on page 51), leadership and management time (53.5), cover only rarely (53.6), no routine administrative tasks (53.7 and Annex 6), and the headteacher’s own leadership time (48.2).
- Ofsted’s school inspection toolkit, version 2.0 for inspections from 7 September 2026. Under leadership and governance, inspectors consider whether leaders keep staff workload manageable without unnecessary burdens, and whether governors or trustees consider leaders’ workload and wellbeing. ‘Staff workload is unsustainable’ is one of the signs of ‘urgent improvement’.
- Improve workload and wellbeing for school staff, the DfE service holding the workload reduction toolkit (identify, address, evaluate) and a flexible working toolkit. It replaced the GOV.UK workload reduction toolkit, withdrawn on 26 March 2024.
What to do this term
- Ask staff where their time goes, using the survey in the toolkit’s ‘identify workload issues’ resources, and agree the two issues to tackle first.
- Check each teacher’s PPA time is at least 10% of their timetabled teaching time, in units of at least half an hour (STPCD ‘Guaranteed planning and preparation time’, printed as 53.4, page 51).
- Check the year’s directed-time calendar fits within 1,265 hours, or the pro rata share for part-time teachers (52.5 and 52.6; the exclusions in 52.4 include headteachers, deputy and assistant headteachers and leading practitioners).
- List the administrative tasks teachers do routinely, and move the ones Annex 6 says do not need a teacher.
- Ask governors or trustees how they take account of your own workload, as the toolkit expects of them.
Common pitfalls
- Following the withdrawn GOV.UK toolkit page instead of the DfE service.
- Counting the daily break under 53.3 or travel to or from work towards directed time (52.12).
- Asking teachers to cover as routine. The STPCD says rarely, and only when the absence was not foreseeable (53.6).
- Producing documents for Ofsted. The toolkit says that would create unnecessary workload.
