Are Workload Pressures Out of Control for School Business Managers?

Why is workload pressure such an important issue for school business professionals?

School business professionals are responsible for keeping many of the systems behind school life running effectively. The Department for Education (DfE) describes the role as covering areas including operational leadership, finance, procurement, estate management, marketing and communications, and human resources.

That breadth is one of the role’s strengths, but it can also create pressure. A School Business Manager may begin the day focused on budgets or school procurement, only to find that staffing questions, premises issues, deliveries, compliance tasks and unexpected problems all compete for attention.

When everything feels urgent, strategic work can easily be pushed into the evening or carried home.

GLS explored this issue in an earlier survey of more than 200 UK School Business Managers. At the time, 34% said unscheduled interruptions heavily affected their working day, while 84% regularly worked after school hours. A further 63% reported working extra hours from home and 17% said they gave up some of their weekend to complete tasks.

Those figures are historical, but more recent evidence suggests the underlying workload challenge has not disappeared.

What does the latest evidence tell us about School Business Manager workload?

The DfE’s The role and experience of support staff in schools, published in February 2026, provides a much more current picture.

Across support staff as a whole, 57% said they could manage their current workload and 24% said they could not. However, school business professionals were among the groups experiencing the greatest pressure: only 43% agreed that they were able to manage their current workload, while 41% disagreed.

The same DfE study found that school business professionals were particularly likely to report working beyond their contracted hours. It also found that increased support-staff workload was connected to growth in both the number and type of responsibilities staff were expected to carry out.

This matters because workload is not simply about having a long to-do list. It is about whether the amount and type of work can realistically be completed within the time and resources available.

Why are School Business Managers so often ‘on demand’?

The school office is naturally at the centre of school life. Staff, suppliers, parents, senior leaders and other colleagues may all need support throughout the day.

Some interruptions are unavoidable. A safeguarding concern, urgent premises problem or unexpected staffing issue has to take priority.

The difficulty comes when everything reaches the School Business Manager.

A printer problem, purchase request, supplier query, missing delivery or routine approval may be important, but that does not necessarily mean it requires an immediate response from the most senior operational person in the school.

Constantly switching between tasks also makes focused financial, procurement and strategic work more difficult. The answer is not to prevent people asking for help. It is to create clearer routes for different types of requests.

How can schools tell when workload is becoming unmanageable?

Pressure can build gradually, which makes it easy for excessive workload to become accepted as part of the job.

Potential warning signs include:

• regularly completing routine work outside contracted hours
• repeatedly working through evenings or weekends
• important strategic work being postponed because of day-to-day problems
• difficulty taking uninterrupted time for financial planning or compliance
• one person becoming the default contact for almost every operational issue
• growing backlogs of non-urgent work
• duplicated administration across different systems
• difficulty taking annual leave without continuing to check or complete work.

Occasional busy periods are inevitable in schools. Persistent overwork is different. If additional hours have become the normal way of keeping up, it is worth reviewing the workload itself rather than simply finding ways to fit more into the day.

What practical steps can schools take to reduce workload?

1. Make the workload visible

Before changing processes, understand where the pressure actually sits.

For a week or two, record recurring tasks, unexpected interruptions and work that regularly moves outside normal working hours. Look for patterns rather than individual difficult days.

The DfE provides workload and wellbeing resources specifically designed to help schools identify workload problems and consider practical changes.

2. Agree what really needs immediate attention

A simple triage system can prevent every request becoming an interruption.

Schools could agree which issues need immediate escalation, which can go to another member of the school office and which can be dealt with during an agreed time.

Protected focus time can also be valuable for work such as budget forecasting, contract reviews and strategic planning.

3. Review what genuinely belongs within the role

The flexibility of school staff is valuable, but responsibilities can gradually accumulate.

Ask:

• Does this task genuinely need a School Business Manager?
• Could somebody else complete it?
• Is approval required at this level?
• Could the process be simplified?
• Are we duplicating information already recorded elsewhere?

Removing one unnecessary recurring task can be more useful than introducing another time-management technique.

4. Reduce repetitive administration

Routine processes are often a good place to look for quick improvements.

For example, a school may repeatedly order stationery, printer paper, exercise books, classroom consumables, cleaning supplies and first aid supplies. If every request involves separate emails, spreadsheets, approvals and manual re-entry, a straightforward purchase can generate unnecessary administration.

Digital procurement can help by creating clearer approval routes and keeping information in one place.

GLS's Smart Ordering toolkit, for example, includes options designed to simplify ordering and e-procurement. My Account can centralise information such as orders, quotations and previous purchases, while Share Basket and Quick Order can help make resource requests and repeat ordering easier to manage.

The important principle is not simply to introduce more technology. It is to remove duplicated steps.

5. Protect boundaries around working time

Being committed to a school should not automatically mean being permanently available.

Senior Leadership Teams can help by agreeing realistic expectations around email, evening work, deadlines and escalation outside normal working hours.

This is particularly important when additional hours have gradually become normalised. A workload problem cannot be solved sustainably by relying on employees to continually give more of their personal time.

6. Make workload a leadership conversation

The original GLS article argued that reducing pressure requires open conversations with the Senior Leadership Team and headteacher. That remains important.

The DfE now provides a dedicated conversation guide for workload and wellbeing in schools and academy trusts, designed for discussions involving staff, school leaders, governors and trustees. It encourages schools to examine which activities contribute to workload and whether staff time is being focused on work with the greatest impact.

Rather than waiting until somebody is overwhelmed, workload should become a regular part of leadership discussions.

What common workload mistakes should schools avoid?

One of the biggest mistakes is treating excessive working hours as evidence of dedication. Commitment matters, but a system that depends on people routinely working beyond reasonable limits is unlikely to be sustainable.

Schools should also avoid introducing wellbeing initiatives without examining what is causing the pressure. Staff appreciation has value, but it will not compensate for unnecessary administration, unclear responsibilities or constant interruptions.

Another common mistake is adding a new process without removing the old one. A digital form does not reduce workload if staff must also complete the spreadsheet, email and paper version.

Finally, avoid assuming that an experienced School Business Manager can simply absorb another responsibility. The breadth of the role is exactly why new expectations need to be considered carefully.

How does staff wellbeing fit into this?

Workload and staff wellbeing should not be treated as separate issues.

The DfE’s Education Staff Wellbeing Charter covers everyone working in education, including support staff. It encourages schools and colleges to make wellbeing part of their organisational culture and to open meaningful conversations with staff about their wellbeing and mental health.

For School Business Managers, this means looking beyond personal resilience. Reasonable workloads, clear responsibilities, supportive leadership and efficient systems all contribute to a healthier working environment.

The goal should be to address the causes of unnecessary pressure rather than asking individuals to become better at coping with it.

How can GLS support busy school business teams?

At GLS, we work with schools every day, so we understand that saving time can be just as important as saving money.

That is why support for School Business Managers goes beyond supplying everyday resources. Tools that simplify procurement, centralise ordering information and make repeat purchasing easier can reduce some of the operational friction that takes time away from higher-value work.

Reducing workload will never come from one system or one change. But making routine school operations simpler can give busy teams more time to concentrate on the work that genuinely needs their expertise.