Scottish teachers’ weekly working hours are on the rise from levels that were already “well beyond” their contracted hours, independent academic research for the EIS teaching union has found.
The research, published today, shows that on average teachers work more than 46 hours weekly – or 11 hours and 23 minutes above their 35 contractual hours.
This is almost the same as the figure to emerge from University of Glasgow research in 2005-06 (45 hours) and an increase on the 43 hours reported in the 2022-23 EIS member survey.
The report states: “Two decades after the [McCrone] Teachers’ Agreement, teachers in Scotland continue to work well beyond their contracted hours and working hours are rising.”
It also underlines the knock-on effects of excessive workload, with high stress levels affecting every part of teachers’ lives.