Cut teachers’ paperwork so they can focus on developing British children

Schools will today be warned to cut classroom red tape, amid fears excessive hours spent on paperwork are causing teachers to ‘burn out’.

In a joint letter to head teachers today, Education Secretary Damian Hinds and Ofsted chief Amanda Spielman warn that teachers are ‘drowning in unnecessary and meaningless data’.

They say teachers now spend more than half their time on ‘non-teaching tasks’, such as data collection, marking and lesson planning. 

Mr Hinds told the Daily Mail that the culture of ‘excessive’ data collection by schools had developed over years, with many now collecting information that was not required by Ofsted or his department.

He said: ‘As a teacher you want to inspire children, you want to develop them, you want to bring the absolute best out of every child.

‘You’re much more likely to be able to do that to best effect if you’re sharp and wide awake and not frustrated by filling in a load of Excel spreadsheets.’

Damian Hinds told the Daily Mail that the culture of ‘excessive’ data collection by schools had developed over years