Quick answer: OECD TALIS 2024, published in October 2025 across more than 35 education systems, reports that 52% of lower-secondary teachers cite administrative tasks as a significant source of stress. A regression analysis identifies administrative workload as one of the three strongest measured workload levers on teacher wellbeing, alongside marking and parent communication, among all variables studied in the survey.
Last updated: June 3, 2026
One in two teachers reports that administrative tasks weigh significantly on their wellbeing. That finding does not come from an informal survey. It comes from a regression analysis conducted by the OECD on data from the TALIS 2024 cycle, which surveyed tens of thousands of teachers across more than 35 education systems.
The conclusion is straightforward. Among all the workload variables measured in TALIS 2024, administrative burden is one of three factors most strongly associated with lower teacher wellbeing. The other two are marking and parent communication.
What TALIS 2024 measured
TALIS (Teaching and Learning International Survey) is the most comprehensive international survey of teacher working conditions. The 2024 cycle was administered to lower-secondary teachers and school principals across more than 35 education systems. Main results were published in October 2025.
Alberta is the only Canadian jurisdiction that participated in TALIS 2024. An OECD caveat accompanies the Alberta data: participation rates did not reach the standard TALIS threshold, and estimates should be interpreted with caution due to a higher risk of non-response bias. Alberta data is therefore indicative rather than definitive.
TALIS does not measure student outcomes. It measures teacher perceptions, practices, and wellbeing, based on teachers' own self-reports. That is what makes the administrative burden finding particularly meaningful: it comes directly from teachers' voices, at scale, across very different contexts.
The central finding: 52% name administration as a major source of stress
According to the "The Demands of Teaching" chapter of TALIS 2024, 52% of lower-secondary teachers identify administrative tasks as a significant source of stress in their work.
That is the highest proportion among all measured stress factors. To put the figure in context: in some systems the proportion exceeds 60%. In others it is lower, but a 52% average across 35 very different systems suggests that administrative pressure on teachers is an international pattern, not a local anomaly.
What TALIS calls "administrative tasks" refers specifically to paperwork and compliance work that is not directly related to teaching: reports, forms, correspondence management, data entry. This is distinct from lesson preparation or marking, even though those tasks are also measured separately.
The regression analysis: the strongest correlations with wellbeing
Beyond the simple proportion, the OECD ran a regression analysis to identify which aspects of workload are most strongly associated with teacher wellbeing. The result is specific: a one-standard-deviation increase in time spent on combined non-teaching workload tasks (administrative tasks, marking, and parent communication) is associated with a greater than 10% standard-deviation decrease in teacher wellbeing scores.
This is one of the strongest effects among all workload variables analysed. In other words, if you want to understand what to improve to support teacher wellbeing, administrative tasks, marking, and parent communication stand out as the priority areas in TALIS 2024 data.
It is worth being precise about the nature of this result: it is a statistical association drawn from self-reported data, not proof that reducing administration will automatically cause a wellbeing improvement. Other factors are involved. But it is the most consistent correlation across systems for this type of workload variable.
How many hours do teachers actually spend on administrative tasks?
The OECD average is approximately 3 hours per week for administrative and institutional tasks in the narrow sense. But that average masks substantial variation across systems:
- Japan reports approximately 5 hours per week
- Korea exceeds 6 hours per week
- Several Nordic systems stay well below the average
These gaps are not without consequences on reported wellbeing. Systems where teachers spend the most hours on administrative tasks also tend to show the lowest wellbeing indicators in TALIS 2024. Again, this is an observed correlation, not an established causal relationship.
For a teacher in Alberta or Quebec juggling an email inbox, a school board portal, a paper agenda, and several family communication apps, these figures have a concrete resonance. Administrative time accumulates in fragments that never feel like "a lost hour" in the moment, but add up to a measurable load across the week.
What this means for Canadian teachers
TALIS 2024 validates what many teachers in Canada already observe: communication with families, email management, compliance forms, and data entry represent a growing share of working time. This is not an individual perception, it is an internationally documented trend.
The "Thriving in Teaching" chapter of TALIS 2024 notes that systems that best support teacher wellbeing tend to be those that have invested in reducing low-pedagogical-value compliance tasks. This is not primarily a budget question: it is a question of workflow and tool design.
For a teacher in Alberta or Quebec, the practical question is: how much of my administrative time could be structured differently? Family communication is often the first answer, because it is a frequent task that fragments easily across multiple uncoordinated channels.
Reducing administrative burden: what the research supports
TALIS 2024 does not prescribe a specific solution. It identifies the problem and its scale. But other research suggests some directions.
Interventions that have shown the best results for reducing teachers' administrative load tend to share several features:
- Channel consolidation. A teacher who uses one tool for family communication spends less cognitive energy than one managing several platforms simultaneously.
- Structured formats. A predictable weekly template takes less time than an ad hoc communication built from scratch each time.
- Reduced interruptions. Multiple notifications and immediate-response requests fragment working time. A system that groups exchanges by topic reduces that fragmentation.
These principles are not specific to any one application. LinoClass is designed around all three: one place for family communication, structured formats for weekly updates, and a flow organised by class rather than by email thread. See how it works.
Frequently asked questions
What does TALIS 2024 measure about administrative burden?
TALIS 2024 asks teachers to estimate the time they spend each week across several categories: direct classroom teaching, lesson preparation, marking and feedback, professional development, communication with parents and families, and administrative and institutional tasks. The survey also separately measures perceived sources of stress and self-reported wellbeing indicators. The regression analysis in the "Demands of Teaching" chapter links these time-use figures to the wellbeing scores teachers reported about themselves.
Is Canada represented in TALIS 2024?
Alberta is the only Canadian jurisdiction that participated in TALIS 2024. Quebec and other provinces are not directly represented in the data. The OECD country note for Alberta (published October 2025) includes a caveat that participation rates did not meet standard TALIS thresholds, which means Alberta estimates should be interpreted with caution due to a higher risk of non-response bias. The broader OECD aggregate figures cover more than 35 participating systems.
Does all administrative work have the same effect on wellbeing?
TALIS 2024 measures total time spent on administrative and institutional tasks as a category, not each task type separately. The regression analysis indicates it is the total hours in this category that are associated with lower wellbeing, independent of other measured factors. The survey does not allow conclusions about whether specific administrative tasks are more harmful than others.
Is administrative burden a problem only in certain countries?
No. The OECD average is approximately three hours per week spent on administrative and institutional tasks, but the range across systems is wide. Japan reports around five hours per week and Korea exceeds six hours. These differences do not appear to be explained by class size or student demographics alone, which suggests that organisational choices and available tools play a role. Systems with lower administrative hours tend to show better wellbeing indicators across the TALIS 2024 data.
What is TALIS and who runs it?
TALIS stands for Teaching and Learning International Survey. It is run by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and is the most comprehensive international survey of teacher working conditions. It surveys lower-secondary teachers and school principals across more than 35 education systems. The fourth cycle, TALIS 2024, was administered in 2024 and published in October 2025. Results are freely available on the OECD website.
Last updated: June 3, 2026
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