As the SEJ goes to print, the clock is ticking on the Scottish Government and COSLA to make a meaningful step forward in addressing the unsustainable level of workload facing teachers across Scotland.

As members will be aware, the current Scottish Government made a manifesto commitment to reduce class contact time from 22.5 to 21 hours per week, prior to its election in 2021. Despite consistent effort on the part of the SNCT teachers’ panel, no progress has been made in the years since to see this promise being honoured.

Whilst lack of action and delay, on the part of the Scottish Government and COSLA, has continued, the effects of intolerable levels of workload have continued to have been felt by teachers in Scotland. Last year, independent research commissioned by the EIS found that, on average, teachers across Scotland are working over 11 hours above their contractual 35 hour working week, each week. It was also found that the majority of this work, as well as being unpaid, was being spent on planning learning and preparing feedback for pupils.

Time is now running out for the Scottish Government and COSLA to collegiately commit to meaningfully address workload.

Currently, the contractual 35 hour working week for teachers, as set out in the SNCT Handbook, is divided between a maximum of 22.5 hours a week, a maximum of 7.5 hours for the planning and preparation of learning (termed by the SNCT as preparation and correction) and the remaining time to be agreed at school level for collegiate activities.

The EIS position is that any decrease in class contact time must be used fully to increase preparation and correction time within the 35-hour working week – affording teachers more time within their working hours to undertake work that evidence has shown they are currently doing unpaid at home and marking a step forward in reducing workload.

Throughout the last few years, the SNCT Teachers’ Panel has maintained the same position as the EIS on the allocation of any reduction in class contact time and this has been repeatedly and clearly communicated to both the Scottish Government and COSLA within meetings of the SNCT. Despite this, the apparent lack of commitment to implement this manifesto pledge promised to the Scottish electorate has been a source of increasing frustration to SNCT Teachers’ Panel negotiators.

The Cabinet Secretary for Education stated to the Scottish Parliament, on 10th December 2024, that work would be undertaken “at pace” by the Scottish Government and COSLA to bring a proposal on reducing class contact time to the SNCT. In response to this apparent commitment, the EIS Salaries Committee unanimously agreed to set a deadline of 3rd February 2025 for a proposal to be made at the SNCT and a further red line that any proposal should ensure a full 1.5 hour increase in preparation and correction time. Salaries Committee further agreed that if no proposal was made, or any proposal did not afford the full 1.5 hours to preparation and correction time, then a formal dispute would be raised at the SNCT.

This position was taken to the SNCT Teachers’ Panel, whose members unanimously agreed that a dispute would be declared in the event of no proposal being made by 12 noon on 3rd February 2025 and overwhelmingly agreed to declare a dispute in the event that any proposal failed to allocate the full 1.5 hours to increase preparation and correction time. This position was then made public via a SNCT Teachers’ Panel statement.

With the clock running down, time is now running out for the Scottish Government and COSLA to collegiately commit to meaningfully address workload.

Class contact time reduction – statement from SNCT teachers’ panel

The Teachers’ Panel of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) met on Monday 2nd December to consider the lack of progress on the Scottish Government’s manifesto commitment to reduce the weekly class contact time maximum for teachers in Scotland to 21 hours.

Class contact time for Scottish teachers remains unacceptably high when compared to other countries’ education systems, and is a contributing factor in the intolerable levels of workload being experienced at all levels in the profession.

In what is now approaching four years since the manifesto commitment was made ahead of the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, and three and a half years since being re-elected, the Scottish Government has failed to implement its key manifesto promises to reduce class contact time to 21 hours and to recruit 3,500 extra teachers in order to deliver on this policy.

Class contact time for Scottish teachers remains unacceptably high when compared to other countries’ education systems

The effects of this failure are being experienced daily by teachers across Scotland, with those in work finding workload pressures unsustainable and thousands of qualified teachers struggling to secure permanent employment.

Over the past three and a half years, the repeated attempts of the Teachers’ Panel to push for progress on the reduction in class contact time have been met with delay and obfuscation, a situation that cannot be tolerated any longer.

As such, the Teachers’ Panel has unanimously resolved that in the event of there being no indication of the plan for the swift implementation of the class contact time commitment within the terms of the Scottish Government’s budget setting process this week, a formal dispute will be declared through the SNCT.

Commenting, Des Morris, Chair of the Teachers’ Side of the SNCT, said, “Scotland’s teachers have shown enormous patience in waiting for the Scottish Government to deliver on its promises on class contact time reduction and the recruitment of 3,500 additional teachers. But that patience is wearing very thin, after three-and-a-half years of delay and excuses from the Scottish Government.

This week’s Scottish budget must lay out a very clear plan as to how these commitments will be delivered – Scotland’s teachers, pupils, parents and carers, and indeed the whole Scottish electorate, have the right to expect the government to keep the promises it makes to them.”