To ask the Minister of Education for his assessment of the Think 1265 Charter as an approach to addressing workload pressures facing teachers.

Teachers’ terms and conditions of service are negotiated through the forum known as the Teachers’ Negotiating Committee (TNC) which comprises representatives of teachers’ employers, sectoral bodies, Department of Education and the five recognised teachers’ unions. The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) is a member of TNC.

Think 1265 is a website supported by the NASUWT but is not an NASUWT official website. I am aware that Think 1265 is recommending that teachers request their school to recognise the charter it is promoting.

Through TNC an agreed workload agreement (TNC 2011/8) was produced which explains the requirements of the 1265 directed hours of a full-time teacher. To support principals in the design and implementation of directed time budgets explanatory documentation including frequently asked questions and training has been jointly agreed with trade unions. The workload agreement has recently been reviewed through a joint working group which included a senior representative from NASUWT and a revised workload agreement was agreed and issued TNC 2024/2.

The workload pressures on teachers is being considered through the recognised and accepted negotiating machinery of TNC.