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Last Updated: 7/6/2006
'Making a Difference' Reducing Schools Paperwork [PDF 565KB, 26 pages] was a joint project between the unit and the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE).
Scope
The project focused on reducing unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy imposed on front-line staff in schools, particularly at reducing the amount of paperwork that prevents them from carrying out their core duties.
Background
The Schools I report launched in December 2000 was built on the commitments made by the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, David Blunkett, at the conference of the National Association of Head Teachers in June 2000. These included targets to cut numbers of documents and volumes of paperwork sent to schools.
Approach
Schools were visited during mid 2000 establish how administrative work can get in the way of raising standards in the classroom. These visits were supported by desk research to see how processes had been developed and to discover the legislative basis behind them. A series of meetings were then held between the unit and key stakeholders such as Local Education Authorities (LEAs), Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED), Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and Teacher Training Agency (TTA) to identify possible solutions to the burdens identified.
After analysing the views of front-line staff and other key stakeholders, the unit identified those areas that would have the greatest impact on the largest number of people and set out actions that could be taken to reduce unnecessary paperwork. Due to the complexity of the issues and the number of stakeholder involved, solutions needed to be agreed through negotiation with schools, policy-makers and administrators to ensure that everyone was satisfied with them.
Key Achievements
The culmination of the efforts and hard work of both front-line staff and policy officials within the education system was the publication of 'Making a Difference' Reducing Schools Paperwork [PDF 565KB, 26 pages] report. As a direct result, it is estimated that a typical school could save over 200 hours per year, which amounts in total to around 4.5 million hours per year across the whole schools system.
In order to monitor the implementation of the outcomes outlined in the report, a survey was undertaken in 2001 using a sample of 51 schools to establish whether the front-line had seen action and were aware of a change in process 12 months on since the publication of the report.
Next Steps
Responsibility for delivery rests with the stakeholders. The project team will continue to work with stakeholders to ensure that the actions are delivered as agreed and are communicated effectively to the relevant staff.
For further enquires or information please contact the unit at psinfo@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk.