Teachers’ perspectives on factors which affect increasing classroom teacher workload in Scotland

Teachers in Scotland are employed to work a 35-hour week. However, research indicates that they have routinely worked above this. This research analysed how many extra hours Scottish teachers worked in one week in March 2024 to provide insights into the activities and drivers that contribute to workload. A sequential mixed methods research design was used for the collection of survey (n = 1, 834) and interview data (n = 40). This paper reports the findings for class-based teachers (n=1,511), who worked 14.82 hours above contracted hours in the focus week. A number of factors contributed to this increased workload and resulted in core duties of planning, preparing resources and marking work being relegated to non-contracted hours. Factors include: an increase in diversity and complexity of pupil need; increasing pupil attendance and behaviour issues; and the use of digital devices by teachers to engage in out of hours school-related tasks.