School leaders warn administrative workload is rising across England, with staff spending hours each day on non-teaching tasks.
Analysis from Access Education suggests disconnected systems across schools require staff to duplicate data entry and manually reconcile information.
Government-commissioned research published in 2023 found that teachers and middle leaders reported spending an average of around two hours per day on administrative tasks, equivalent to approximately 10 hours per week.
As multi-academy trusts grow, this challenge becomes more complex, driven by greater operational scale and rising volumes of data.
Leaders say the issue is not the administrative tasks themselves, but how they are managed across multiple systems.
These tasks include safeguarding, attendance and communication with parents, but staff are often required to enter, check and reconcile data across multiple platforms.
As schools and trusts grow, many operate across separate platforms for finance, HR, curriculum planning, safeguarding and parent communication. This can limit visibility and slow decision-making at both school and trust level.
Peter Waller, Director at University of Chicha Multi-Academy Trust, said many trusts are working across multiple systems that are not connected:
“We’ve got multiple systems doing different parts of the job, but they’re not joined up. We need one connected system that brings everything together and saves time for staff across the trust.”
Leaders say this creates additional pressure, with staff often required to act as the link between systems rather than focusing on higher-value work.
This reflects a wider challenge across schools, where disconnected systems are adding to workload and taking time away from teaching.
Emma Slater, a school operations specialist at Access Education and former teacher, said the issue is not the volume of administrative work, but the time lost switching between platforms and piecing information together:
“Administrative work is a necessary part of running a school, but the challenge many leaders face is how that work is carried out.
“Two hours a day is a significant amount of time in a school environment. That is time that could be spent supporting pupils, planning lessons or working with staff. When that time is absorbed by administrative processes, it has a direct impact on how schools operate day to day.
“When systems don’t connect, staff are forced to spend time bringing information together instead of acting on it.
“As trusts grow, this becomes more complex. Leaders need a clear view across finance, staffing and operations, but too often that information sits in different places.”
The research also highlights that administrative demands have increased in recent years, driven by rising SEND requirements, accountability pressures and greater communication with parents.
Many tasks are time-sensitive and arise throughout the day, particularly those linked to safeguarding and pupil wellbeing, making workload difficult to plan and manage.
Harry Whitaker, Chief Financial Officer at Owlcotes Multi-Academy Trust, said the issue is often duplication across different processes:
“At the moment, we’re inputting data into multiple systems. Having one connected system where data is entered once and flows across finance, HR, payroll and school systems will be a huge time saving for us.”
What should be a single action can become multiple steps, increasing workload and delaying decisions.
Slater added: “This is not about removing necessary work. It’s about making sure it can be completed efficiently. When systems work together, schools can reduce duplication, improve visibility and give leaders more time to focus on improving outcomes for pupils.”
