AI for Impact Wildcard Challenge 10.10

Why does this Challenge need to be solved?

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.

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 in particular has increased since the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2024, 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 in order 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.

This challenge seeks to explore ways in which technology might support teachers and those in leadership roles within schools to make their workload more manageable.  

The following tasks  are suggested areas where more innovative solutions may be most effective for reducing workload for teachers.  

• Preparing resources

• Planning and preparing lessons

• Data recording, input, and analysis

• Marking and feedback to pupils

• Other administrative duties

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). The following tasks are suggested areas where more innovative solutions may be most effective for reducing workload for teachers;

• HR admin

• Premises management

• Central and government reporting paperwork

• School clerical or admin work

Please note this list does not represent all tasks that make up workload for teachers and leaders within schools and it is fully acknowledged that there are significant aspects of teacher workload would not be best addressed through technology innovation   For that reason the challenge is seeking responses that can reduce the workload burden involved in either one or multiple of the tasks and activities above, without compromising quality of output or outcomes for learners.

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 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, as reflected on by the above list, 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.

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?

There are a variety of solutions in the marketplace that may address aspects of the tasks identified however, of those reviewed to date, there remain either needs to further consider the demands which these solutions place on teachers, or further development is required to make them applicable for the Scottish education system.

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

Teacher workload is complex and will look different for teachers in different school sectors, in different local authorities and will be very different for class teachers and school leaders. 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.  The Scottish Government is currently developing a Digital Strategy for Education which will include an outline roadmap of digital workstreams and guidance to support the development of technology use in Scottish education.

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?

This is an AI for Impact CivTech Challenge, because we believe that an imaginative and ambitious use of AI could produce considerable benefits to the issue. Much is currently being made of the potential of advanced AI, and in truth just about all the products CivTech has developed over the past few years have AI as part of the tech stack, using componentry such as machine learning and pattern recognition, or indeed LLMs.  

But there is no obligation on your part to go down a particular route: 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; and while we are open to exploring a wide range of different technologies including how advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) might be applied. However, any approach must be based on sound principles of User Centered Design and if using AI apply ethical, explainable and transparent principles to its design as set out in Scotland’s AI strategy.

What is the commercial opportunity beyond a CivTech contract?

With more than 5000 schools in Scotland, the market for potential application is large. This challenge is also not unique to Scotland and so there may be opportunities for reuse across other UK nations.

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

• Aberdeenshire Council

• Dumfries and Galloway Council

What is the policy background to the Challenge?

As discussed in detail above, there is a desire to decrease teacher workload to within contracted hours in order to improve;

• the wellbeing of teachers

• retention and progression of teachers

• learner outcomes