Our Statutory (Postal) Ballot Needs Your Vote

Our statutory (postal) ballot in pursuit of the SNCT dispute to reduce teachers’ workload is still open for another week.  

We urge every member to vote and post their ballot paper; and we recommend members to vote YES for industrial action in pursuit of the SNCT dispute to reduce workload.  

We hope that if the Scottish Government sees a high turnout in this ballot, that it will resolve the dispute with the EIS by negotiating an agreement at the SNCT. In other words, the more people who vote in our ballot then the less likely that industrial action is needed.

Why are we asking members to vote for industrial action to reduce teachers’ workload?

The EIS Council, consisting of elected EIS representatives, believe that this is the best opportunity we have in the short-term of reducing all members’ workload.

This is because:

• The Scottish Government has already promised to reduce weekly class contact time in its 2021 Manifesto. 
• The Scottish Government has an agreement with COSLA to deliver reduced weekly class contact time. 
• The Scottish Government has already provided COSLA with around £186.5m of extra funding to facilitate the agreement. 
• The EIS and COSLA seek a fully funded agreement. A fully funded agreement will fund the additional teachers required to implement the reduction, including additional Principal Teachers, Depute Headteachers and job resizing reviews. 
• The EIS is not looking for an agreement where workload is simply displaced to our promoted members. 
  
  The SNCT Agreement to resolve this dispute will include clarity on how classwork is split between teachers, with no expectation that assemblies or other non-classroom activities be used to facilitate the reduction in weekly class contact.
• The reduction in weekly class contact time will affect all teachers who teach; i.e. probationers, main grade and promoted teachers. The corresponding released time will be given to all teachers to as ‘preparation & correction’ time – this is currently a sticking point with COSLA and the Scottish Government.
• The Independent research on teacher workload obtained by the EIS showed that ‘preparation & correction’ for lessons was the single largest workload driver – and drives much of the 11 hours a week (on average) that teachers do beyond their contractual 35 hours a week.
• The EIS recognises that a fully funded implementation of the reduction in weekly class contact time may be phased over a few years. This would allow employers to address staffing issues in certain rural areas and subject areas. 
• Implementing the Scottish Government’s reduction in weekly class contact time- with the released time given to preparation & correction – will improve pupil outcomes.  
  
  It will allow 9 hours of preparation & correction time for 21 hours of teaching, as opposed to the current 7.5 hours of preparation & correction time for 22.5 hours of teaching – a win-win.
• Less time teaching brings Scottish teachers closer to OECD/International norms. It will allow teachers to better prepare for each hour of teaching – this will help with the diverse needs of pupils, including those with ASN.  
  
  More time outwith lessons/classes will also give more time for teachers to follow things up outwith lessons. This may help with reporting behaviour  issues or to obtain more professional support for pupils – including ASN.  

We are aware that some members would prefer to reduce workload by other means such as smaller class sizes and more PSAs.

The EIS is campaigning through SU4QE to reduce teacher workload and improve pupil outcomes by other means – such as more PSAs, smaller class sizes, more education resources and staffing, etc. Our forthcoming Manifesto for the 2026 Scottish elections will set this out in greater detail. 

The Scottish Government promised, in 2021, to reduce teacher workload and improve pupil outcomes by facilitating the reduction in weekly class contact time. It is under a moral obligation to fulfil for the people of Scotland what it promised to do.

The EIS sees it as a first step in a wider strategy to reduce teachers’ workload and improve pupils’ outcomes. It is unfortunate that we need to threaten to take industrial action in order to pressure the Scottish Government to implement its own Manifesto commitment and subsequent agreement with COSLA – but that is where we are at in 2026.

The deadline to request duplicate ballot papers via a request to ballot@eis.org.uk is 5.00 pm Wednesday, 7th January.

We urge every member to vote and post their ballot paper; and we recommend members to vote YES for industrial action in pursuit of the SNCT dispute to reduce workload.