Where the hours actually go
The DfE's Teacher Workload Review and the annual Teacher Wellbeing Index agree on the top three workload drivers:
- Marking — especially extended writing and exam questions
- Planning — reinventing resources that already exist somewhere in the building
- Data and admin — assessment recording, parent communication, behaviour logs
Lesson delivery itself is rarely cited. The damage is being done in the evenings and at weekends.
What the evidence says you can cut
Detailed written marking
The EEF's review of feedback found "remarkably little evidence" that long marking comments improve outcomes more than short, focused, timely feedback. Triple-marking and dialogic feedback survive review only when they actively change pupil behaviour.
Re-typing resources from scratch
If a colleague has built it, share it. If a national platform has it, use it. The hours saved buy you intervention time, not lost professionalism.
Data entry duplication
Single source of truth for assessment. Once. Anywhere else is a copy.
Smart tools that actually save time
- LoftTick — AO-tagged smart marking for extended writing. Average saving: 4–6 hours a week.
- LoftTest — auto-marked retrieval quizzes with class heatmaps.
- LoftTalk — formative oracy assessment that listens, transcribes and rubric-tags talk in seconds.
- LoftTrack — single source of truth for assessment data with QLA built in.
- LoftTeach — observations, school reports and CPD coaching scripts in one place.
Whole-school strategy
- Audit first. Run a 4-week workload tracker department-by-department.
- Re-write the marking policy in line with the DfE Workload Review and EEF guidance.
- Centralise the resource bank. One drive. One naming convention. One owner per topic.
- Adopt smart marking on extended writing. Start with one department, then scale.
- Protect directed time. Don't fill the gains with new meetings.
What schools say
Heads who roll out smart marking and centralise resources report measurable wins: lower staff turnover, better teacher recruitment, higher Ofsted personal-development scores, and crucially — teachers who say they would recommend the profession again.