Union tells teachers to dodge marking and refuse mock inspections in tips to reduce stress as MPs call on schools to raise standards

• Guidance states staff ‘shouldn’t be expected to routinely give written feedback’
• They also ‘shouldn’t be asked to produce more than 1 report per academic year’
• READ MORE: Teachers threaten to go on strike in July if pay row is not resolved

A union is advising thousands of teachers on how to dodge marking, the Mail can reveal.

The guidance tells staff that they ‘should not be expected to routinely give or receive written feedback’.

Plus they ‘should not be asked to produce more than one report per academic year’.

Critics say the move is part of a long-running campaign by the National Education Union (NEU) to reduce the tasks which teachers have to carry out.

Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith said the NEU, which is balloting for strike action, should focus on raising standards, not causing misery to millions with walkouts.

The guidance tells staff that they ‘should not be expected to routinely give or receive written feedback’. Plus they ‘should not be asked to produce more than one report per academic year’ (file image)

The row comes as the NEU and three other education unions representing 400,000 staff threaten to co-ordinate a wave of strikes over six months which could hit all English state schools (pictured: protestors holding ‘Pay Up’ flags and placards in support of teachers during a demonstration in London on May 2)

Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith (pictured) said the NEU, which is balloting for strike action, should focus on raising standards, not causing misery to millions with walkouts

Pupil shortage threatens schools

Almost 100 primary schools in England are in danger of closing as they battle dwindling pupil numbers, analysis of Government data shows.

Dozens of primary schools across the country may have to shut down, as 88 were more than two-thirds empty last year. The decreasing numbers are thought to have been caused by falling birth rates and the exodus of young families from urban areas amid rising house prices.

Jon Andrews, head of analysis at the Education Policy Institute, said: ‘Most of the funding that schools get is on a per-pupil basis, so when numbers start to fall, their overall funding falls.’

Close to half of the at-risk schools were located in cities and towns, compared to just a quarter in villages, analysis of the Department for Education (DfE) data by the Guardian newspaper found.

The South West and South East had the most schools with high vacancy rates.

Mr Andrews added that the DfE has estimated that numbers of pupils will fall by more than 900,000 over the next decade.

‘The NEU has once again shown their hand,’ he added. ‘Raising standards for pupils should be our focus. It should get off the picket lines, around the negotiation table and back in the classroom.’

The 24-page guide called ‘Reducing accountability workload in your workplace’ also encourages staff to rebel against mock Ofsted inspections as they ’cause unnecessary stress and workload’.

On marking, it reads: ‘Though giving feedback to pupils is important, this does not necessarily mean written marking, or that it should be done in a prescribed manner eg different colour pens.’ 

The union also outlines how career progression ‘should be automatic’ and not based on performance.

The guide adds that meetings ‘should only take place if they are necessary and have a clear agenda and purpose’; unnecessary ones ‘add to workload and are counterproductive’. 

Arabella Skinner, chief of staff at campaign group UsForThem, said: ‘Parents know that good teachers are the key to their children’s education. That’s why they value the feedback that teachers give.

‘The last three years of school closures has broken the parent/school contract and anything that reduces parental contact with the education system will be regarded as a backwards step that will inevitably lead to lower standards.’

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU, insisted: ‘The advice around marking is not about teachers doing less work but doing work that matters.’

The row comes as the NEU and three other education unions representing 400,000 staff threaten to co-ordinate a wave of strikes over six months which could hit all English state schools. 

There have already been five days of national walkouts by tens of thousands of teachers.

An offer of a £1,000 one-off payment for this school year and an average 4.5 per cent rise for next year has been rejected by the four unions. 

Mr Courtney said they ‘remain ready and willing to meet the Education Secretary [Gillian Keegan] at any time’.

Kevin Courtney (pictured in the front), joint general secretary of the NEU, insisted: ‘The advice around marking is not about teachers doing less work but doing work that matters’

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