Teachers and lecturers face increasing workload burdens from controlled assessments and coursework and should not be expected to complete work vital for examination courses without pay, members of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union will hear this weekend.

At the NASUWT Northern Ireland Annual Conference in Belfast, members will debate a motion highlighting the increased workload and stress on teachers and lecturers of marking and assessing coursework-based subjects which is neither recognised nor compensated. 

This is compounded by increased administrative responsibilities associated with marking, recording, and submitting Controlled Assessments.

The motion to be debated at the Belfast Conference, will hear calls for ways to combat spiralling workloads caused by the marking of controlled assessments and course work including alternative assessment methods, greater collaboration with policymakers to develop a system that reduces workloads, allocated teacher time for assessments and additional resourcing and support.

Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT General Secretary said: “The way teachers and lecturers are expected to assess coursework-based subjects is having a major impact on their work-life balance.

“They should not be expected to complete work vital for examination courses that has not been reasonably accounted for in their Time Budget and for which they are not compensated for.”

NASUWT National Official Northern Ireland Justin McCamphill said: “NASUWT members in post-primary schools and colleges regularly tell us that the work associated with controlled assessment and course work is one of their biggest sources of excess workload.”

“For most, the workload is unmanageable and so much time is spent on assessing that many members are forced to choose between a poor worklife balance or spending less time on the rest of their job.

“This motion is calling for a robust review of the current assessment system which leads to manageable workload where teacher-based assessment is required and explores alternative assessment methods where that would be more appropriate.”