Indicator D4. How much time do teachers and school heads spend teaching and working?
Based on official regulations or agreements, teachers in public schools in OECD and partner countries are required to teach on average 987 hours per year at pre-primary level, 784 hours at primary level, 711 hours at lower secondary level (general programmes) and 684 hours at upper secondary level (general and vocational programmes).
The way teachers’ total working time is divided between teaching and non-teaching activities, and the distribution of working hours taking place within the school or elsewhere, varies widely across countries.
School heads in OECD countries and other participants work an average of 43-44 weeks per year, depending on the level of education. Their annual statutory working time averages 1 648 hours at pre-primary level, 1 613 hours at primary level, 1 612 hours at lower secondary level (general programmes) and 1 608 hours at upper secondary level (general programmes). In about two-thirds of OECD countries, school heads are required to work during students’ school holidays.
Context
Although statutory working and teaching hours only partly determine the actual workloads of teachers and school heads, they do offer valuable insights into the demands placed on teachers and school heads in different countries. Teaching hours and the extent of their non-teaching duties may also affect the attractiveness of the teaching profession. Together with salaries (see Indicator D3) and average class sizes (see Indicator D2 in (OECD, 2021[1])), this indicator presents some key measures of the working lives of teachers and school heads.
For teachers, the proportion of their statutory working time spent teaching provides information on the amount of time available for non-teaching activities, such as lesson preparation, correction, in-service training and staff meetings. A larger proportion of statutory working time spent teaching may indicate that a lower proportion of working time is devoted to tasks such as assessing students and preparing lessons, as stated in regulations. It could also indicate that teachers have to perform these tasks in their own time and hence work more hours than required by their statutory working hours. In some countries, actual working practices of teachers and school heads may have diverged from the statutory requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic, due to school closures and changes in learning environments related to the sanitary measures (e.g. remote learning and sanitary restrictions once schools reopened). Moreover, some countries introduced changes in statutory requirements on teaching and working time in the second year of the pandemic (see Box D4.2 and Annex 3 for more information).
In addition to class sizes and the ratio of students to teaching staff (see Indicator D2 in (OECD, 2021[1])), students’ hours of instruction (see Indicator D1 in (OECD, 2021[1])) and teachers’ salaries (see Indicator D3), the amount of time teachers spend teaching also affects the financial resources countries need to allocate to education (see Indicator C7 in (OECD, 2021[1]).
Other findings
The number of hours per year teachers are required to teach in pre-primary, primary and secondary public schools varies considerably across countries but tends to decrease as the level of education increases.
Across OECD countries and other participants, the required teaching time in public schools varies more widely across OECD countries and other participants at the pre-primary level than at any other level, ranging from 505 hours in Mexico to 1 755 hours in Germany.
At the upper secondary level, teachers spend 43% of their working time on teaching on average, ranging from 33% or less in Japan, Norway and Türkiye to 63% in Latvia and Scotland (United Kingdom). Teachers in most countries are required to perform various non-teaching tasks during their working time, such as lesson planning/preparation, marking students’ work and communicating or co-operating with parents or guardians.
At the general secondary level, full-time teachers who teach more hours than their contract requires are rewarded with financial compensation in around two-thirds of countries.
In 17 OECD and partner countries, teachers’ statutory working time includes working during students’ school holidays in at least one level of education. In most of these countries, working time during school holidays is required to be spent on specific activities, such as preparation for the next school term, or individual and/or collective professional development activities.
In more than half of OECD countries, official documents explicitly state the additional tasks and responsibilities of school heads (e.g. teaching students, communication with parents) on top of their managerial and leadership roles.
Teaching time of teachers
At the pre-primary, primary and secondary levels, countries vary considerably in their annual statutory teaching time – the number of teaching hours per year required of a full-time teacher in a public school. Variations in how teaching time is regulated and/or reported across countries may explain some of the differences in statutory teaching time between countries (Box D4.1). In addition, some of the changes in the statutory requirements on teaching time compared to previous years may result from response to the COVID-19 pandemic, also contributing to differences between countries (Box D4.2).
Teaching time of teachers
Data on teaching time in this indicator refer to net contact time as stated in the regulations of each country. The international data collection exercise gathering this information ensures that similar definitions and methodologies are used when compiling the data in all countries. For example, teaching time is converted into hours (of 60 minutes) to avoid differences resulting from the varying length of teaching periods between countries. The impact on the comparability of data of differences in the way teaching time is reported in regulations is also minimised as much as possible.
Official documents might regulate teaching time as a minimum, typical or maximum time, and these differences may explain some of the differences reported between countries. While most data refer to typical teaching time, about one-third of countries report maximum or minimum values for teaching time (see Table X3.D4.3 in Annex 3).
Statutory teaching time in this international comparison excludes preparation time and periods of time formally allowed for breaks between lessons or groups of lessons. However, at the pre-primary and primary levels, short breaks (of ten minutes or less) are included in the teaching time if the classroom teacher is responsible for the class during these breaks (see the Definitions section).
Other activities of teachers, such as professional development days (including attending conferences) and student examination days, are also requested to be excluded from the teaching hours reported in this indicator, such as professional development days (including attending conferences) and student examination days. At each level of general education, about two-thirds of the countries and other participants with available information were able to exclude the number of days spent on these activities from statutory teaching time. However, in the rest of the countries, the regulations do not always specify the number of days devoted to some of these activities and/or whether teachers are required to conduct these activities outside of scheduled teaching times, making it difficult to estimate and exclude them from teaching time.
Less than 30% of countries and other participants cannot exclude professional development days from teaching time at all levels of general education. In these countries, the regulations specify some days of professional development activities for all teachers, but the impact on reported teaching time is difficult to estimate as the number of days and how they are organised during the school year may vary across schools or subnational entities. About one-quarter of countries and other participants with available information cannot exclude student examination days from teaching time at each level of general education. In many of these countries, regulations include some guidelines on the number of student examination days, but they are not clear about whether scheduled teaching time is reduced by the time devoted to examinations, or by how much. Overall, not excluding the time devoted to professional development and student examinations may result in annual teaching time being overestimated by a few days in these countries (see Table X3.D4.4 in Annex 3 for more information).
Other forms of professional development activities and student examinations may result in the overestimation of teaching time, even if countries are not asked to exclude them from teaching hours. Examples include professional development activities required for specific groups of teachers only (when regulations do not explicitly forbid them from participating during their scheduled teaching time) and compulsory standardised student assessments conducted for only a few hours of the school day. The complexity of estimation and the fact that only some teachers participate in these activities make it difficult to standardise reporting practices across all countries in order to exclude these activities from teaching time.
Working time for teachers and school heads
Total working time data in this indicator refer to required working hours during the reference year as indicated in the official documents such as legal documents and collective agreements for teachers and/or school heads, or general labour law with specific guidance for these professions. In some countries such as France, Japan, Korea (school heads), Portugal (school heads), Switzerland (teachers) and Türkiye, the statutory working time for teachers and/or school heads is not specific to these professions and refer to the working hours of civil servants. Since working time can be defined in various units (hours per week, per month or per annum, for example), some calculation may be required to estimate the annual working hours when working time is defined based on other units.
Total working time refers to the typical working time of teachers in 68% of countries and other participants and to the typical working time of school heads in 70% of them. In others, total working time refers to either maximum or minimum required working hours. For example, statutory total working time for teachers in England (United Kingdom), Korea and Denmark and for school heads in Ireland and Colombia refers to the minimum number of working hours. In contrast, total statutory working time of teachers and school heads is defined as a maximum number of working hours in some countries, such as Norway, Poland and Scotland (United Kingdom) (see Tables X3.D4.3 and X3.D4.8 in Annex 3).
More detailed information on the reporting practices on teaching time and working time for all countries and other participants is available in Annex 3 (Tables X3.D4.3 and X3.D4.8).
Across countries and other participants with available data, statutory teaching time in public schools varies more at the pre-primary level than at any other level. The number of teaching days ranges from 151 days per year in the Flemish Community of Belgium to 225 days in Germany and Norway. Annual teaching hours range from 505 hours per year in Mexico to 1 755 hours in Germany. These large variations across countries and other participants result from the combination of differences in the length of the school year and in the number of teaching hours per day. For example, pre-primary teachers teach an average of 2.7 hours per day over 190 days in Mexico, but 7.8 hours per day over 225 days in Germany (Table D4.1). On average across OECD countries and other participants, pre-primary teachers are required to teach 987 hours per year, spread over 41 weeks or 196 days (Table D4.1 and Figure D4.1).
Primary school teachers are required to teach an average of 784 hours per year in public institutions. In most countries and other participants with available data, daily teaching time range from three to six hours a day, with an OECD average of more than four hours per day. There is no set rule on how teaching time is distributed throughout the year. For example, primary school teachers in Norway teach 741 hours per year, 111 hours more than in Latvia (630 hours). However, as teachers teach on more days each year in Norway than in Latvia (190 days compared to 160 days), teachers in both countries teach nearly four hours a day on average (Table D4.1).
Lower secondary school teachers in general programmes in public institutions are required to teach an average of 711 hours per year. Teaching time is less than 600 hours in Finland, Greece, Korea, Poland and Türkiye, and exceeds 1 000 hours in Costa Rica (Table D4.1). However, the reported hours for Finland and Korea refer to the minimum time teachers are required to teach (Box D4.1).
A teacher in general upper secondary education in public institutions has an average teaching workload of 684 hours per year. Teaching time ranges from fewer than 500 hours per year in Poland to more than 1 000 hours in Costa Rica. Teachers in the Czech Republic, Finland, Japan, Korea, Norway, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Türkiye teach for three hours or less per day, on average, compared to six hours or more in Costa Rica (Table D4.1).
In the first year of the pandemic, one immediate measure of the impact on education was the school closures which compelled national education ministries to find strategies to minimise the disruption in schooling, such as distance education or adjustments in school activities (OECD, 2021[2]). In the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, these measures continued to be implemented (see chapter on COVID-19) and some OECD and partner countries and other participants introduced changes to their statutory requirements on teaching and working time, based on their experiences in the first year.
For the school year 2020/21 (2021 for southern hemisphere countries), 12 OECD countries and other participants implemented changes in the statutory working conditions of teachers. The levels of education affected by the implementation of the new regulations or agreements varied across countries. The pre-primary level was the least affected, with only three countries and other participants reporting changes in statutory working conditions of pre-primary teachers as a consequence of the pandemic. Four countries reported changes at the lower secondary level, five at the upper secondary level and six at the primary level.
The nature of these changes differed across countries and other participants. To avoid the spread of the virus during specific periods, school calendars were adjusted to extend the school holidays. As a result, teaching times fell (at all levels of the education) by around nine days in the Flemish and French Communities of Belgium, three days in Ireland, and four days in the Czech Republic (except at the pre-primary level). In Latvia, extending the school holidays reduced actual teaching time by 10 hours (over the year), but only at the primary level. In Greece, the regulations delayed the start of the 2020/21 school year by 3 days, and the end of the school year by 10 to 15 days, depending on the level of education.
During periods of school closure, Greece used remote learning at all levels of education, which resulted in reductions in lesson times, and also had a major impact on teaching hours at the pre-primary level. To ensure effective learning in an online setting, pre-primary teachers in Greece increased the time spent in lesson preparation, and this is reflected in the total working time. In some countries the pandemic may have affected the national exams and the assessment of students. For example, in Greece, final exams were not carried out at lower and upper secondary levels, and in Italy the national exams only included the oral component at these levels of education. In Portugal, secondary level exams were maintained, but the calendar was adjusted, which affected the teaching hours of teachers teaching the grades that are subject to the national exams (see notes on interpretation due to COVID-19 in Annex 3).
In some countries teaching time requirements may change throughout a teacher’s career, or according to their qualification level (Box D4.3). In a number of countries, some new teachers have a reduced teaching workload during their induction programmes. Some countries also encourage older teachers to stay in the profession by reducing their teaching hours. For example, in Chile and Portugal, teachers may have a reduced teaching workload based on their number of years in the profession and/or age.
In this indicator, teaching time refers to statutory working conditions of full-time fully qualified teachers in the reference year, as defined in each country. While teachers should meet minimum qualification requirements to enter the teaching profession and become fully qualified teachers (see Indicator D6), some teachers may have higher qualification levels. However, they could also have lower qualification levels than the minimum to enter the teaching profession in the reference year, if the qualification requirement has changed over time, or when there are other pathways to enter the teaching profession (see Indicator D6). For example, in Iceland, the minimum qualification to enter the teaching profession is a master’s degree, but teachers with 10 years or more teaching experience could have entered the profession with a bachelor’s degree. In Greece, a bachelor’s degree is required to become a teacher at the secondary level in 2021, but teachers with 10 years of experience or more could have become a teacher with a post-secondary non-tertiary qualification. This means the level of qualification of teachers at a given level of education may vary not only between countries, but also within countries.
In nearly all countries and other participants, a tertiary qualification is necessary to become a teacher in 2021 at pre-primary, primary and secondary levels (see Indicator D6). In 2021, most 25-64 year-old teachers at these levels had a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, or a higher level of qualification. Among the 25 OECD countries and other participants with available data on the distribution of teachers by attainment level, the proportion of teachers with a short-cycle tertiary degree or lower level of qualification does not exceed 17% at the primary and secondary levels, except in Slovenia where it reaches 20% for lower secondary teachers. At these levels, the proportion of teachers without a bachelor’s or higher qualification is less than 10% in nearly all other countries with available data. At the pre-primary level, a few countries have a larger share of teachers with lower levels of qualification. The share is 20-30% in Estonia, Finland, Iceland and Latvia; slightly over 30% in Sweden; and 70% in the Czech Republic (Table X2.8). In some of these countries, these shares are explained by the current qualification requirements for teachers: the minimum qualification level for a pre-primary teacher is an upper secondary qualification in the Czech Republic, and a short-cycle tertiary degree in Latvia. In other countries, these proportions may result from previous qualifications’ requirement to enter the teaching profession or from the existence of other pathways into the teaching profession, as a bachelor’s degree is currently awarded at the end of initial teacher training (this is the case in Estonia, Finland and Sweden) (Table D6.1).
In some countries, teachers’ qualifications may have an influence on their teaching hours. In this case, the data on teaching time refers to typical qualification levels, that it to say the most prevalent qualification of teachers. This is the case in France, where general secondary teachers can have two different tertiary qualifications (certificat d'aptitude au professorat de l'enseignement du second degré (CAPES) or agrégation) implying different teaching requirements.
Differences in teaching time by level of education
Teaching time tends to decrease as the level of education increases. In most countries, statutory teaching time at the pre-primary level is more than at the upper secondary level (general programmes). The exceptions are Brazil and Scotland (United Kingdom), where teachers are required to teach same hours at all levels of education, and Australia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Lithuania and Mexico, where upper secondary school teachers are required to teach more hours than pre-primary school teachers (Table D4.1).
The largest difference in teaching time requirements is between the pre-primary and primary levels of education. On average, pre-primary school teachers are required to spend about 25% more time in the classroom than primary school teachers. In the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia and Slovenia, pre-primary school teachers are required to teach at least twice the number of hours per year as primary school teachers (Table D4.1).
In Austria, France, Ireland, Korea, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Türkiye, primary school teachers have at least 25% more annual teaching hours than lower secondary school teachers, while there is no difference in Brazil, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Scotland (United Kingdom) and Slovenia. The teaching workload for primary school teachers is 3% lighter than for lower secondary school teachers in Costa Rica, Estonia and Lithuania; 18% lighter in Latvia; and 23% lighter in Mexico (Table D4.1).
In most countries, the teaching hours are similar for the lower and upper secondary levels. However, annual required teaching time at the lower secondary level is at least 25% more than at the upper secondary level in Norway (Table D4.1).
Actual teaching time
Statutory teaching time, as reported by most of the countries in this indicator, refers to teaching time as defined in regulations. However, individual teachers’ teaching time may differ from the regulations, for example because of overtime. Actual teaching time is the annual average number of hours that full-time teachers teach a group or a class of students, including overtime (it also includes activities other than teaching, such as keeping order and administrative tasks), and it thus provides a full picture of teachers’ actual teaching workload.
While only a few countries were able to report both statutory and actual teaching time, these data suggest that actual teaching time can differ from the statutory requirements. For example, upper secondary teachers actually teach 1-8% more hours than their statutory teaching time in Colombia, Lithuania and New Zealand, and up to 25% more hours in Poland (Education at a Glance Database).
Differences between statutory and actual teaching time could be the result of overtime due to teacher absences or shortages, or may be explained by the nature of the data, as figures on statutory teaching time refer to official requirements and agreements, whereas actual teaching time is based on administrative registers, statistical databases, representative sample surveys or other representative sources (Box D4.1).
Teaching time of school heads
Although teaching is the primary or main responsibility of teachers, it can also be one of the responsibilities of school heads in some countries. Among the 29 countries and other participants with available information at pre-primary level, all school heads are required to teach in 7 countries, and some school heads are required to under specific circumstances in a further 8 countries. Pre-primary school heads can also voluntarily teach in 4 countries and are not required to teach in 10 countries. Some primary school heads are required to teach in more than half of the countries with available data (19 out of 34 countries). However, this requirement only applies to all school heads in 6 countries. Teaching responsibilities become less common for school heads at the secondary level (general programmes). At this level, all school heads are required to teach in only 6 countries; and some school heads in a further 10 countries with available data. School heads are free to teach at their own discretion in 6 countries, and are not required to teach in 12 countries (Table D4.6, available on line).
Most of the countries where teaching is one of the responsibilities of school heads, do not set a specific number of teaching hours for them, but rather define minimum and/or maximum teaching hours. In upper secondary general programmes, for example, the minimum statutory teaching time for school heads (converted into hours per year) ranges from 0 hours (i.e. exempt from teaching) to 194 hours, and the maximum statutory teaching time from 149 hours to 594 hours. In most of these countries, teaching represents up to 22% of school heads’ statutory working time, but the proportion exceeds 74% in Ireland (Table D4.6, available on line). The maximum teaching time is usually only required for school heads in specific circumstances. For example, in Ireland almost all school heads actually have either no or minimal teaching hours (for more information on minimum and/or maximum teaching time requirements, refer to Table X3.D4.9 in Annex 3).
Although teaching may be required for school heads at all levels of education in a given country, their minimum and maximum teaching requirements could vary across levels of education. In a majority of the countries with teaching requirements, the number of teaching hours required from school heads decreases as the level of education increases. The exception is Türkiye, where teaching requirements are the same for all school heads at all levels of education (Table D4.6, available on line).
In all countries where school heads have teaching responsibilities, except Türkiye, the requirements vary based on specific criteria. In a large majority of these countries, the key determinants of the teaching requirements are the characteristics of the school such as its size (number of students, teachers and/or classes) and/or the level of education it covers. Other criteria can also be considered, for example the socio-economic status of the regions in Ireland (Table X3.D4.9 in Annex 3).
Working time of teachers
In the majority of countries, teachers’ working time is partly determined by the statutory teaching time specified in working regulations. In addition, teachers in most countries are formally required to work a specific number of hours per year, as stipulated in collective agreements or other contractual arrangements. This may be specified either as the number of hours teachers must be available at school for teaching and non-teaching activities, or as the total number of working hours. Both correspond to official working hours as specified in contractual agreements, and countries differ in how they allocate time for each activity.
More than half of OECD countries and other participants specify the length of time teachers are required to be available at school, for both teaching and non-teaching activities, for at least one level of education. In over one-third of the countries with available data for pre-primary and upper secondary teachers, the difference in the times upper secondary and pre-primary school teachers are required to be available at school is less than 5%. However, in half of these countries and other participants (the Flemish Community of Belgium, Hungary, Latvia, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Portugal, Sweden and Türkiye), pre-primary teachers are required to be available at school for at least 20% more hours than upper secondary school teachers and the difference exceeds 40% in Latvia and New Zealand. In contrast, total statutory working time is the same for both levels in Hungary, Sweden and Türkiye (Table D4.2).
In some countries, regulations specify teachers’ total annual statutory working time (at school and elsewhere), but not the allocation of time spent at school and time spent elsewhere (due to the COVID-19 pandemic, actual working practices could have been different from statutory requirements, see Box D4.2). This is the case in the Czech Republic, England (United Kingdom), Estonia (primary and secondary education), France (secondary education), the French Community of Belgium (pre-primary and primary education), Germany, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Switzerland (Table D4.2 and Figure D4.2).
The variation across countries in teachers’ annual working hours can be partly due to whether the total working time spans students’ school vacations. For example, at general upper secondary level, total working time is 1 268 hours for teachers in Israel, where they are not required to work during school vacations, and 1 866 hours in Switzerland, where they work up to 8 weeks during school vacations (Figure D4.2). In 17 OECD countries and other participants, teachers’ statutory working time includes working during students’ school holidays in at least one level of education. In most of these, teachers are required to spend the working time during school holidays on specific activities, such as preparation for the next term, or individual and/or collective professional development activities (see Table X3.D4.2 in Annex 3 for details).
Non-teaching time
Although teaching time is a substantial component of teachers’ workloads, other activities such as assessing students, preparing lessons, correcting students’ work, in-service training and staff meetings should also be taken into account when analysing the demands placed on them in different countries. The amount of time available for these non-teaching activities varies across countries; a larger share of statutory working time spent teaching may indicate that a smaller share of time is devoted to these activities.
Even though teaching is a core activity for teachers, in a large number of countries they spend most of their working time on activities other than teaching. In the 21 countries and other participants with data for both teaching and total working time for upper secondary teachers, 43% of teachers’ working time is spent on teaching on average, with the proportion ranging from less than 34% in the Czech Republic, Japan, Norway, Poland and Türkiye to at least 50% in Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Scotland (United Kingdom) (Figure D4.3).
While the proportion of working time spent teaching tends to increase with the number of teaching hours per year, there are some variations between countries. For example, Colombia and Latvia have a similar number of teaching hours at upper secondary level (836 hours in Colombia and 832 hours in Latvia), but 49% of teachers’ working time is spent on teaching in Colombia, compared to 63% in Latvia. In some other countries, teachers devote similar proportions of their working time to teaching, despite having considerably different teaching hours. For example, in both Colombia and Portugal, upper secondary teachers spend about 49% of their working time teaching, but teachers teach for 667 hours in Portugal, compared to 836 hours in Colombia (Figure D4.3).
In some countries, such as Austria (primary and secondary levels), Costa Rica, the French Community of Belgium (lower and upper secondary levels), Italy, Lithuania (pre-primary) and Mexico (upper secondary level), there are no formal requirements on the amount of time spent on all non-teaching activities. However, this does not mean that teachers are given total freedom to carry out other tasks. In Italy, teachers are required to perform up to 80 hours of scheduled non-teaching collegial work at school per year. Of these 80 hours, up to 40 hours are dedicated to meetings of the teachers’ assembly, staff planning meetings and meetings with parents, with the remaining 40 compulsory hours dedicated to class councils (Table X3.D4.2).
Non-teaching tasks and responsibilities
Non-teaching tasks are a part of teachers’ workloads and working conditions. The non-teaching activities required by legislation, regulations or agreements between stakeholders (e.g. teachers’ unions, local authorities and school boards) do not necessarily reflect teachers’ actual participation in non-teaching activities, but they provide an insight into the breadth and complexity of teachers’ roles.
Individual teachers often do not have the authority to choose whether or not to perform certain tasks related to teaching. According to regulations for general upper secondary teachers, individual planning or preparing lessons, marking and correcting student work, and communicating and co-operating with parents are three non-teaching tasks that are mandatary for teachers during their statutory working time in at least 35 out of the 39 countries and other participants with available data. General administrative work and teamwork, and dialogue with colleagues, are also required in 31 countries, and can be decided at the school level in at least 3 other countries with available data (Table D4.4, available on line).
Responsibilities such as being class/form teacher, participating in mentoring programmes and/or supporting new teachers in induction programmes, or participating in school or other management in addition to teaching duties are largely distributed among general upper secondary teachers in more than half of countries (as they are either mandatory for teachers or mandatory at the discretion of schools). Of the various responsibilities teachers might take on, full-time classroom teachers (in general upper secondary education) are either required or asked to perform student counselling in about two out of three countries and other participants with available information. However, in some countries, not all teachers can perform student counselling. For example, in Israel, only teachers with master’s degree or higher can perform this duty (Table D4.5, available on line).
Teachers do not only take on the responsibilities they are required to by regulations or their school heads; they also often do so voluntarily. In 18 countries and other participants at the general upper secondary level, individual teachers decide themselves whether to engage in extracurricular activities or whether to train student teachers. Teaching more classes or hours than their full-time contract requires is also a voluntary decision by teachers in nearly half of countries and other participants (Table D4.5, available on line).
Participation in professional development activities is considered an important responsibility of teachers at all levels of education, as it is mandatory for all teachers at all levels in 25 countries and other participants. Participation is required at the discretion of individual schools in 10 countries for at least one level of education. Only four countries allow teachers to participate in professional development activities at their own discretion at all levels (Table D4.5, available on line). Regardless of the requirements, a large majority of teachers in OECD countries participate in professional development activities (OECD, 2019[3]).
In general, requirements to perform certain tasks and responsibilities do not vary much across levels of education. However, there can be some differences reflecting the changing needs of students at different levels of education. For example, upper secondary teachers are required to supervise students during breaks in 16 countries, but this is much more widespread at pre-primary and primary levels (22 countries) (Table D4.4).
Differences in tasks’ requirements between countries could explain the differences in the proportion of statutory working time spent on non-teaching tasks and responsibilities. For example, Japan is one of the five countries where engaging in extracurricular activities is mandatory at lower secondary level (Table D4.5). Indeed, lower secondary teachers in Japan reported spending the highest proportion of actual working time (13%) among OECD countries on this responsibility (OECD, 2019[3]).
Regardless of whether they are mandatory or not, the performance of additional tasks and responsibilities may be accompanied by some compensation, either in the form of reduced teaching time or in the form of allowances or additional remuneration on top of the base salary according to different criteria (see Indicator D3 for the criteria for additional payments).
At the upper secondary level, as at other levels of education, the number of countries awarding teachers an allowance or additional payments varies according to the tasks and responsibilities concerned, and the number is larger for tasks that are voluntary for all teachers in a larger share of countries (Figure D4.4).
Tasks related to teaching such as individual planning or preparing lessons, marking and correcting student work, and communicating and co-operating with parents are rarely compensated. At upper secondary level, performing these tasks results in an additional payment or allowance in less than 13% (5 out 39) of the countries with available data (Figure D4.4 and Table D4.4 available on line). However, more than two-thirds of countries and other participants offer financial compensation to teachers at upper secondary level for teaching more classes or hours than their full-time contract requires (Figure D4.4 and Table D4.5, available on line). This may be explained by the fact that this task is directly related to teachers’ main role and that the status of teachers clearly defines the number of hours they are expected to teach, so additional hours need to be compensated for.
Participation in school or other management activities can result in specific compensation for teachers in more than half of the countries and other participants with available data. In some, their teaching time might be reduced to balance the workload between teaching and other responsibilities, in addition to financial compensation (Figure D4.4 and Table D4.5, available on line).
Working time of school heads
As with teachers’ working time, many OECD and partner countries define school heads’ statutory working time under relevant regulations or collective or individual contracts. In France, Japan, Korea, Mexico (upper secondary education), Portugal and Türkiye, civil servants’ regulations apply for school heads’ working time (as for teachers, except in Korea, Mexico and Portugal). Only in England (United Kingdom), the Flemish Community of Belgium, Germany (in most Länder), Greece, Italy and Luxembourg are there no official documents quantifying school heads’ working time (Figure D4.2 and Table X3.D4.7 in Annex 3).
Depending on the level of education, on average across OECD countries and other participants, school heads work 43-44 weeks or 211-214 days per year. On average, their annual working hours do not vary much between levels of education: 1 613 hours at primary level, 1 612 hours at lower secondary level and 1 608 hours at upper secondary level. At pre-primary level, however, their annual statutory working hours are on average 40 hours longer than at upper secondary level. Across all levels of education, school heads in Türkiye have the longest hours (1 844 hours per year). Statutory working hours are lowest in Mexico (at pre-primary level) and Ireland (for primary and lower and upper secondary general programmes) where statutory working hours are below 1 300 hours per year (Table D4.3).
In 19 out of 27 countries and other participants with available data (70%), school heads’ annual working hours do not vary much across levels of education. In the remaining eight countries where their statutory working time do vary, school heads in pre-primary or primary education generally work more hours per year than those in secondary education. For example, school heads’ statutory hours in pre-primary schools are 1-14% higher than in primary and secondary schools in Australia, Estonia, Finland and New Zealand. In Mexico, school heads have shorter working hours at pre-primary and primary levels than at lower secondary level (by 14%) and at upper secondary level (by 17%) (Table D4.3).
In about two-thirds of the countries with available data, the statutory working time of school heads includes working during students’ school holidays. The amount worked during school holidays ranges from about 1 week in Austria, Scotland (United Kingdom) and the Netherlands (at the request of the school heads’ employers) to 10 weeks in Türkiye. In some of these countries, school heads are required to prepare for the new school semester and arrange professional development programmes during school holidays. In the other one-third of countries, the regulations do not require school heads to work during students’ school holidays. Nevertheless, the actual practice could be different. For example, school heads in Ireland may work during at least a part of students’ school holidays although it is not included in their statutory working time (Table X3.D4.7 in Annex 3).
Tasks and responsibilities of school heads
In more than half of the OECD countries and other participants with available data, regulations explicitly state that school heads are expected to play managerial and leadership roles. In addition, school heads can be required to perform other tasks and responsibilities, such as management of human/financial resources, organising professional development activities, organising students’ educational activities and teaching students as well as facilitating good relations with parents, education inspectorates, and/or the government. In a majority of countries, the tasks and responsibilities required from school heads do not vary across levels of education and educational programmes (for more details, refer to Table X3.D4.8 in Annex 3).
However, in about one-quarter of countries with available information (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden), official documents on the working conditions of school heads do not detail their responsibilities and tasks. School heads in these countries may have more autonomy to organise their work and responsibilities (Table X3.D4.7 in Annex 3).
Actual teaching time is the annual average number of hours that full-time teachers teach a group or class of students. It includes all extra hours, such as overtime. Data on these hours can be sourced from administrative registers, statistical databases, representative sample surveys or other representative sources.
The number of teaching days is the number of teaching weeks multiplied by the number of days per week a teacher teaches, minus the number of days on which the school is closed for holidays
The number of teaching weeks refers to the number of weeks of instruction excluding holiday weeks
Statutory teaching time is defined as the scheduled number of 60-minute hours per year that a full-time teacher (or a school head) teaches a group or class of students, as set by policy, their employment contracts or other official documents. Teaching time can be defined on a weekly or annual basis. Annual teaching time is normally calculated as the number of teaching days per year multiplied by the number of hours a teacher teaches per day (excluding preparation time). It is a net contact time for instruction, as it excludes periods of time formally allowed for breaks between lessons or groups of lessons and the days that the school is closed for holidays. At pre-primary and primary levels, short breaks between lessons are included if the classroom teacher is responsible for the class during these breaks.
Total statutory working time refers to the number of hours that a full-time teacher or school head is expected to work as set by policy. It can be defined on a weekly or annual basis. It does not include paid overtime. According to a country’s formal policy, working time can refer to:
the time directly associated with teaching and other curricular activities for students, such as assignments and tests
the time directly associated with teaching and other activities related to teaching, such as preparing lessons, counselling students, correcting assignments and tests, professional development, meetings with parents, staff meetings, and general school tasks.
Working time required at school (of teachers) refers to the time teachers are required to spend working at school, including teaching and non-teaching time.
In interpreting differences in teaching hours among countries, net contact time, as used here, does not necessarily correspond to the teaching load. Although contact time is a substantial component of teachers’ workloads, preparing for classes and necessary follow-up, including correcting students’ work, also need to be included when making comparisons. Other relevant elements, such as the number of subjects taught, the number of students taught and the number of years a teacher teaches the same students, should also be taken into account.
For more information please see the OECD Handbook for Internationally Comparable Education Statistics 2018 (OECD, 2018[4]) and Annex 3 for country-specific notes (https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance/EAG2022_X3-D.pdf).
Data are from the 2021 OECD-INES-NESLI Survey on Working Time of Teachers and School Heads and refer to the school year 2020/21 (statutory information) or school year 2019/20 (actual data).
References
[1] OECD (2021), Education at a Glance 2021: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/b35a14e5-en.
[5] OECD (2021), Education at a Glance Database.
[2] OECD (2021), The State of Global Education: 18 Months into the Pandemic, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/1a23bb23-en.
[3] OECD (2019), TALIS 2018 Results (Volume I): Teachers and School Leaders as Lifelong Learners, TALIS, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/1d0bc92a-en.
[4] OECD (2018), OECD Handbook for Internationally Comparative Education Statistics 2018: Concepts, Standards, Definitions and Classifications, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264304444-en.
Cut-off date for the data: 17 June 2022. Any updates on data can be found on line at https://doi.org/10.1787/eag-data-en. More breakdowns can also be found at http://stats.oecd.org, Education at a Glance Database.
Table D4.1. Organisation of teachers' teaching time (2021) |
|---|
Number of statutory teaching weeks, teaching days and net teaching hours in public institutions over the school year |
 |
Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the statutory requirements on organisation of teachers’ teaching time may have been adjusted temporarily in some countries. See Box D4.2 and Definitions and Methodology sections for more information. Data on vocational programmes at lower secondary level (Columns 4, 10 and 16) are available for consultation on line. Data available at http://stats.oecd.org, Education at a Glance Database. |
1. Typical teaching time (teaching time required from most teachers when no specific circumstances apply to teachers). |
4. Average planned teaching time in each school at the beginning of the school year. |
5. Actual teaching time (in Latvia except for pre-primary level). |
Source: OECD (2022). See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance/EAG2022_X3-D.pdf). Please refer to the Reader's Guide for information concerning symbols for missing data and abbreviations. |
Table D4.2. Organisation of teachers' working time (2021) |
|---|
Teachers' statutory working time at school and total working time in public institutions over the reference year |
 |
Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the statutory requirements on the organisation of teachers’ working time may have been adjusted temporarily in some countries. See Box D4.2 and Definitions and Methodology sections for more information. Data on vocational programmes at lower secondary level (Columns 4 and 10) are available for consultation on line. Data available at http://stats.oecd.org, Education at a Glance Database. |
1. Total working time requirements refer to those of civil servants. |
Source: OECD (2022). See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance/EAG2022_X3-D.pdf). Please refer to the Reader's Guide for information concerning symbols for missing data and abbreviations. |
Table D4.3. Organisation of school heads' working time (2021) |
|---|
Number of statutory working weeks, working days and total working hours in public institutions over the reference year |
 |
Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the statutory requirements on the organisation of school heads' working time may have been adjusted temporarily in some countries. See Box D4.2 and Definitions and Methodology sections for more information. Data on vocational programmes at lower secondary level (Columns 4, 10 and 16) are available for consultation on line. Data available at http://stats.oecd.org, Education at a Glance Database. |
1. Total working time requirements refer to those of civil servants. |
Source: OECD (2022). See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance/EAG2022_X3-D.pdf). Please refer to the Reader's Guide for information concerning symbols for missing data and abbreviations. |