Teacher wellbeing and managing heavy workloads are major challenges for the education sector in 2026. 

Large teacher workloads, combined with staffing challenges, mean time management in schools can be tricky – but a lack of protected time for teachers often feeds into and worsens wellbeing challenges. 

As such, it’s essential for leaders to protect their teachers’ time – and it’s key that your school has the right systems in place to support this. 

What’s teacher PPA? 

Many teachers, especially in British international schools, receive planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time. Teacher PPA time is dedicated time away from teaching duties to complete tasks such as lesson planning and marking.

How much time do teachers get as PPA time? 

Many schools follow the UK’s Department for Education’s (DfE)  guidance, which advises that PPA: 

• Takes place during the school’s timetabled teaching week 

• Is equivalent to at least 10% of the teacher’s timetabled teaching time 

Many schools also enable teachers to complete their PPA time remotely. 

Why is teacher PPA time important? 

Our 2026 Global Wellbeing Report found that less than 5% of teachers are able to keep their work within their contracted hours – with most teachers working overtime citing admin workload as a key reason. 

Teacher PPA is important because it provides teachers with time to complete some of this work inside of their directed hours, which means it can reduce the amount of overtime required – supporting a better work-life balance and improved wellbeing. 

It's important for leaders to protect this time for their teachers and to be flexible in enabling remote PPA time where possible. 

“I firmly believe that a culture of flexible working is the way to recruit and retain quality teachers [...] The time when the excuse of ‘it sets a precedent’ or ‘the timetable is a barrier’ prohibits people from working flexibly is gone.” 

����Vlog Timetable customer 

Time management in schools: how leaders can save time 

Well-managed timetabling in schools and school trusts enables leaders to both save time and better protect their teachers.��

By implementing a robust timetabling system, you can avoid errors that lead to last minute changes – which ultimately disrupt protected teacher time.��

A full picture of your school’s timetable, including lessons, break duties and staff meetings, helps you see patterns and therefore address potential challenges early. For example: 

• See which teachers are busier at which times to ensure duties are split fairly 

• Understand teachers’ current workload before implementing new school initiatives 

• Take advantage of free space in the day to avoid late meetings, supporting staff wellbeing 

How this helps you protect teacher time

Ultimately, a full view of school timetables puts leaders in the best possible position to support teacher PPA and to protect teachers’ time – you can see ahead of time where issues are likely to arise and avoid last-minute disruption.��

This helps you support teacher wellbeing, work-life balance and prevents burnout – all of which leads to better student outcomes.��

Better timetabling saves time for teachers and leaders 

Timetabling with the right tool streamlines admin tasks, reduces workload and provides full visibility over your school’s schedule, all in less time.

����Vlog Timetable automates time-consuming processes, identifies clashes and simplifies the timetable development.��

“This year [����Vlog Timetable] has already saved us 0.75 FTE after just a small amount of time working with the software. Best from my perspective though is that it’s causing me to question how we timetable and the processes involved, the human impact and programming the data in the best way for all stakeholders.” 

����Vlog Timetable customer 

Read our free guide to explore how better timetabling can help you save time and money while improving teacher wellbeing.��

Read the guide