Teachers are one of the most important drivers of pupils’ educational and academic development, yet recent data shows that England has one of the worst teacher attrition rates among OECD nations.
Given the widespread perception that increasing the availability of flexible working could improve teacher retention, UCL Institute of Education (IOE) and the Chartered College of Teaching (CCT) have been undertaking research funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to understand more about flexible working in schools.
This research has focused on taking Planning Preparation and Assessment (PPA) time away from the school site, which has been proposed as one possible solution to the teacher retention crisis. The findings from the first phase of our research offer valuable insights into the complexities of offering primary and secondary teachers the possibility to take their PPA time offsite.
The project
The project consists of two phases – a scoping phase followed by a trial phase.
- The scoping phase (2024–25), led by the Chartered College of Teaching, explored the factors impacting the availability and uptake of offsite PPA in primary schools and established the final trial design. This phase also explored secondary-specific issues relating to offsite PPA.
- The trial phase (2026–31), led by researchers from the IOE, will evaluate the impact of an offsite PPA policy in primary schools on:
- teacher retention
- job satisfaction
- wellbeing.
The trial phase: Impact evaluation
In phase 2 of our research, we are continuing to build the evidence base on flexible working. In the second phase we are undertaking an evaluation of the impact of offsite PPA in primary schools.
The aim of the evaluation is to find out the impact of teachers being able to take their PPA time away from the school site on teacher retention, job satisfaction and wellbeing. Schools that take part in the evaluation will contribute to our understanding of how flexible working affects teachers’ experiences of work and will help us develop guidance for school leaders and policymakers.
How to get involved
We are specifically looking to reach leaders from state primary schools that usually expect teachers to stay onsite to complete their PPA, though we are happy to speak to any interested leaders to gauge whether their settings are suitable. If you are interested in speaking to a member of our research team about participating in the research, please complete our Expression of Interest form and a member of the team will get in touch.
You can find out more information about the research here.
