From overload to impact: Designing our school systems around students and their teachers

Teaching today extends far beyond lesson delivery. Teachers are expected to support wellbeing, manage behaviour, coordinate programs and adopt new technologies while still delivering high-quality instruction. As school communities absorb social and technological change, the profession carries an extraordinary range of responsibilities with limited time, clarity and systemic support. The result is growing workload, rising stress and less time for the high-value work that matters most for student outcomes.

Our analysis shows the scale of the issue and the opportunity in clear terms. In 2024 the average teacher worked 43.5 hours a week, with more than 60% of that time spent on tasks outside classroom teaching. For the highest workload quartile, total weekly hours sit at 60 or more, with around 43 hours devoted to non-classroom tasks.

Fixing workload is not about doing more with less; it is about making every hour count. This requires redesigning roles, processes, policies and technologies so work aligns with the core purpose of teaching. Across jurisdictions we have worked with, three themes consistently determine whether reforms succeed:

• People – where reforms reflect the real work of teachers and students;
• Coherence – where policies, processes and supports reinforce each other; and
• Time – is understood to be the system’s scarcest and most valuable resource.

When these three elements align, improvements endure. When they do not, even well-intentioned initiatives add to the load. We outline a simple, repeatable model for system improvement that puts these principles into practice, helping leaders diagnose workload, prioritise change and embed enduring supports for teachers and students.

Explore the model, detailed evidence and practical next steps for redesigning school systems so teachers can focus on what matters most. 

For more insight, explore the two reports below: