Challenge 11.6

What is the problem, and how does it affect the Challenge Sponsor organisation, service users and/or People of Scotland?

In CivTech 10, we ran an “AI for Impact” Wildcard Challenge: how can technology help make teachers’ workload be more manageable, enabling them to focus on the activities that add the most value to learners’ outcomes?

To date, this Challenge has been a success, and we are currently working with a company on tackling the administrative-heavy tasks relating to reporting for pupils with Additional Support Needs. For more info you can see the CivTech 10 Challenge here.

During this Challenge we learnt that this problem space is incredibly complex and that there is much more to tackle if we want to make notable and measurable improvements to Teacher workload. In particular, we became more aware of the fact that the pressures on teachers is massively varied depending on factors such as location, stage in their careers, teaching role (e.g. head teacher, department head, management), school context (e.g. primary, secondary) and much more. Therefore, to make a bigger dent in teacher workload, we wish to launch this follow -up Challenge which will continue to address the pain-points and pressures experienced by teachers, but with a specific focus on engaging with teachers (and related professions) to understand their myriad experiences and therefore add value at scale.

Therefore, to address this Challenge, we ask all applicants to consider a substantive approach to User Research (UR) and Engagement within the Accelerator. This should include high level plans and principles of the UR and Engagement process, as well as clear plans as to how this process will feed into the development of the MVP in the Accelerator. In terms of the specifics of teacher workload, we know that a range of factors contribute to this and we are keen in this Challenge to look both at some of the specifics as well as taking a much broader view to understand the wider context of the challenges and address the variation in teacher roles and experiences. Various evidence sources (e.g. EIS self-reported diaries, AHDS annual workload survey, recruitment, and retention surveys) indicate that the workload, expectations and demands of teachers has increased over the years and has increased since the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2025, teachers’ and school leaders’ responsibilities are numerous and varied (from teaching, administration, reporting, managing complaints, to lesson planning and supporting learner wellbeing) and thus often exceed available working time. This means that they find themselves carrying out tasks in excess of their contracted hours to fit it all in. Such practices are not sustainable in the long term and do not support our teachers to best meet the needs of learners and deliver high quality learning and teaching.

The issue is replicated both for classroom teachers and promoted staff who also consistently report issues with excess workload – though the key workload challenges are different for each of these groups. Indeed, surveys show a significant decrease in classroom teachers seeking promotion, and with fewer teachers progressing to depute or principal roles, headteachers responsibilities become even greater. Some of the issues faced by Headteachers relate to diminishing budgets at Local Authority level, which results in fewer staff in their schools and greater challenges in covering the workload for staff absences. Headteachers also report challenges related to time tabling, the necessary use of dated systems, and having to manage multiple overflowing inboxes. Further, in some cases promoted staff face challenges with recruitment and retention – particularly in rural areas, or in more specialist high school subject roles (for example, Tech teachers).

It is important that teacher workloads are manageable. Not just for the wellbeing of staff, or for recruitment and retention reasons, but because of the potential impacts which excessive workload can have on outcomes for learners.

This Challenge seeks to understand more detail about the pain points within teacher workload and consider how we might address these with technology to make workloads more manageable. 

We don’t know enough about how workload pressures look and change across teachers at different stages of their career, in different school contexts (i.e. high school, primary etc.) or across different role types (principal teacher, department head, management etc.) to identify particular tasks which might offer opportunities for innovation. We also don’t understand how teachers feel about the tasks within their workload to understand where intervention would be welcome and where it might impact on the things teachers really enjoy doing.

It is important to note that teacher’s roles are highly specialist and complex and many of the tasks that contribute to workload have intrinsic value, such as time spent marking and drafting feedback to pupils on a specific task, offering an opportunity to reflect on an individual's progress and identify where wider support may be required. This Challenge is not seeking to undermine the value of teacher’s professional skills and is not focused on the face-to-face aspects of teacher roles but on the more administrative aspects which reports indicate are currently getting pushed outside of working hours.

Throughout the Challenge process applicants will be supported with opportunities to engage with teachers and other stakeholders however all applicants should familiarise themselves with the detail of practices involved with these tasks as they apply to education professionals in the Scottish Education System.

A wider range of tasks can be found in the following EIS report: Hulme Cover 1 (eis.org.uk)

AHDS Workload survey report - AHDS - provides further data on the workload of school leaders.

How will we know the Challenge has been solved?

Teachers and school leaders will report completing more of their workload within contracted hours. Over time we would also hope to see reduced sickness, better recruitment and retention in the teaching profession and an increase in the desirability of school leadership roles.

The scope of the Challenge is intentionally wide and applications which can address part of the Challenge are welcome. It is not expected that one response will necessarily cover all aspects of the Challenge, respondents can focus on a specific part or parts of the Challenge as long as they clearly demonstrate how the component they are addressing would create an impact on at least one of the Challenge outcomes. These impacts will need to be robust and clearly articulated with, whenever possible, verifiable metrics.

During the Accelerator, the successful applicant(s) will have produced their research outcomes and have fed these into the development of their MVP. Critically, a key outcome of this Challenge that teachers (and those in related professions) feel they have been included in the process and that the resulting product reflects their input.

Who are the end users likely to be?

• Class teachers (primary and secondary)

• School leaders (Head teachers, depute head teachers and principal teachers)

Has the Challenge Sponsor attempted to solve this problem before?

As described above, we launched a Challenge in a previous CivTech cohort and are working with a company to address one aspect of Teacher Workload, relating to ASN reporting. This has been a positive experience, and we are keen to address yet more aspects of the Challenge with a focus on really getting to grips with the teacher experience relating to these workload challenges.

There are a variety of solutions in the marketplace that may address aspects of teacher workload but we don’t understand enough about the pain points of workload in the Scottish context to identify if, or when, these may be most effective – or where they may add additional burden. Furthermore, many of these products do not fully reflect the Scottish context or curriculum in a way which would allow identified needs to be fully met.

Given the scale of the workload challenge, we are exploring this problem space further in order to identify more areas where user research and subsequent technology might continue to support efficiencies.

Are there any interdependencies or blockers?

There are ongoing challenges with getting data out of SEEMiS which would make any products dependent on this difficult to implement.

Will a solution need to integrate with any existing systems / equipment?

There is significant variation in the digital infrastructure and maturity of schools and local authorities across Scotland. This means that all schools will have a slightly different starting position in terms of digital access and skills which will impact their ability to engage with a digital solution.

Therefore, consideration should be given to the variation in access to digital infrastructure (including devices) between not just pupils but also teachers. 

Responses should include details of how proposals would be developed in the face of this challenge and is expected that a significant proportion of the early stages of the development of any solutions would be spent applying user-centered design and user research practices to understanding the deployment challenges for any solution.

Is this part of an existing service?

Delivery of school education at primary and secondary levels including both class teaching and school leadership.

Any technologies or features the Challenge Sponsor wishes to explore or avoid?

CivTech is tech agnostic. As long as the proposed solution offers the opportunity to solve the Challenge in question, we will consider it.

That said, any proposed solution must be capable of integrating with existing systems as required by the specific Challenge and its Challenge Sponsor, and if appropriate be compatible with current and developing Scottish Government infrastructure.

Much is currently being made of the potential of advanced AI. In truth, just about all the products CivTech has developed over the past few years have AI as part of the tech stack but there is no obligation on your part to go down this route – either with componentry such as machine learning and pattern recognition, or indeed LLMs.

We are looking for the best solution, whatever technology used.

What is the commercial opportunity beyond a CivTech contract?

With more than 5,000 schools in Scotland, the market for potential application is significant. Furthermore this Challenge is not unique to Scotland - many countries are facing educational workload issues so there will be opportunities for commercial exploitation across other UK nations, internationally and in the private education sector.

Who are the stakeholders?

• Class teachers (primary, secondary and special schools)

• School leaders (Head teachers, depute head teachers and principal teachers – primary, secondary and ASN)

• Scottish Government/Education Scotland Teams

• Teacher Unions and Professional Associations

• Local Government (as employers of teachers/statutory responsibility for provision of education service)

Who’s in the Challenge Sponsor team?

• Scottish Government Policy Officials

• Local Government Officials

• Education Scotland Officials

What is the policy background to the Challenge?

There is a desire to decrease teacher workload so that it is achievable within contracted hours, and so improve -

• The wellbeing of teachers

• Retention and progression of teachers

• Learner outcomes