Still on the list: minute-taking remains a DfE workload target

In 2013, the Department for Education published a list of tasks teachers should not be doing which included taking verbatim notes or producing formal minutes of meetings (School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document, 2013).

Fast forward 10 years and in 2024, the Workload Reduction Taskforce issued a similar list, which again included producing minutes (Workload Reduction Taskforce, Initial recommendations, January, 2024).

This could be an oversight or rather a lack of viable solutions and alternatives over the past decade.  While the profession has debated workload reforms, many of the administrative burdens have persisted, including around meetings. Minute taking, note distribution, and agenda follow-up remain routine responsibilities for staff who are already stretched with a clear impact on time,  resource and wellbeing. 

The difference in 2025? The technology finally works.

Solutions now exist that can handle the administrative work around meetings - capturing minutes, recording actions, and improving consistency. Solutions that have been built by people who’ve experienced first hand the challenges and who know what’s needed.

These aren’t marginal gains. They’re transformational shifts in school and trust operations.

The principles are simple:

• Time is a finite resource and we should use it intelligently.

• Resources in education should be focused on the things that really matter to support children and their families 

• Administration should be robust but not overwhelming.

What if the next DfE list didn’t include minutes at all?

Reflecting on more than a decade of limited progress and the same problem being highlighted, it feels like there is an opportunity for a big reduction in this key area of work. The next ten years could look radically different. When the next DfE report is published on workload reduction will minute writing still be on the list?