Get involved
Are you a leader from a state primary school that usually expects teachers to stay onsite to complete their PPA?
Would you like your school to contribute to robust research that builds evidence on how flexible working affects teacher retention, job satisfaction, wellbeing and productivity?
Your contributions to the research will help to shape future practice, informing practical guidance for school leaders and helping to influence policy decisions that affect teachers and schools nationally.
If you would like to get involved, please complete the Expression of Interest form and someone from our recruitment team will be in touch.
You can download a copy of the information sheet for schools.
Project
The project runs from September 2024 to July 2032 and is funded by the Education Endowment Foundation.
Background
Teacher recruitment and retention is a major challenge in England and globally. Historically, teachers have had less access to flexible working than other professionals. This is an issue that has become more salient with the recent rise in working from home.
All teachers in state schools in England are entitled to at least 10% of their timetabled teaching time as protected Planning, Preparation and Assessment (PPA) time. This cannot be allocated to other duties. Evidence suggests that offsite PPA is a feasible but currently underused approach to flexible working in primary schools.
The study is a ‘School Choices’ trial, consisting of a scoping phase followed by a trial phase. In the scoping phase (2024–25) we explored the factors impacting the availability and uptake of offsite PPA in primary schools. We also investigated the most appropriate design for an efficacy trial in primary schools and identified barriers and enablers to offsite PPA in secondary schools. The project is now at the trial phase.
For more information, please read a summary of the scoping phase findings for school leaders.
Methodology
The trial (2026–31) will use a randomised controlled trial to evaluate the impact of an offsite PPA policy on:
- teacher retention
- job satisfaction, and
- wellbeing.
We will recruit 250 primary schools in England that do not already offer offsite PPA. Schools will be randomised into an intervention group and a control group. Schools in the intervention group will offer offsite PPA to all teachers during the school year 2026–2027. Schools in the control group will continue with their usual PPA practices.
We will measure the impact of introducing offsite PPA using teacher retention data from the School Workforce Census, and using surveys that will be carried out by the research team. The impact evaluation will be accompanied by a mixed methods implementation and process evaluation to help us understand how and under what circumstances introducing offsite PPA has any effects. The implementation and process evaluation will consist of surveys of teachers and school leaders, and case studies.
Team
Project lead
Project team members
- Hettie Burn
- Jake Anders
- Lisa-Maria Müller (Chartered College of Teaching)
- Victoria Cook (Chartered College of Teaching)
Contact us
Centre for Teachers and Teaching Research (CTTR)
Department of Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment
UCL Institute of Education
University College London
20 Bedford Way
London WC1H 0AL
Image
Cavan for Adobe via Adobe Stock.