MP calls on Education Secretary to pay teachers for their overtime work marking assessments

South Lakes MP Tim Farron has written to the Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, urging him to pay teachers for the extra marking and assessments they are having to undertake after external exams were scrapped.

Last month, Tim contacted the Secretary of State about the issue of schools paying up to £110,000 to exam boards, despite there being no externally marked A-Level or GCSE exams this summer.

Meanwhile Tim has also raised the issue of teachers being left further in limbo after the exam board Ofqual has so far failed to let schools know what would be cut from syllabuses next year to reflect the loss of learning time due to the pandemic.

Tim said: "Teachers and teaching staff have worked their absolute socks off during this pandemic to give young people the best possible education in pretty much impossible circumstances.

"Thanks to the incompetence and indecision of the Department for Education, they have been put under enormous stress and sadly I know that many feel as if they now have reached a breaking point.

"The very least that the Government can do to support teaching staff and to thank them is to actually pay them for the extra hours they are working."