Overseas marking 'eases teacher workloads'

In the past, manufacturing and the services provided by call centres have been among the things outsourced abroad.

Now experts are suggesting that pupils' school work could be sent overseas to be marked.

Education Datalab director Dr Rebecca Allen says with teachers now expected to get through a huge volume of marking, the move would help cut their workload.

She insists a very reliable marking service could be provided by foreign-based teachers, as cheaply as £2 per hour.

The reader in economics at University College London's Institute of Education says radical solutions need to be considered to help take the pressure off UK teachers.

As well as outsourcing, she adds, schools could also look into using new technology that could allow pupils' work to be scanned and marked by a computer.

Dr Allen adds that "endless" education policy changes should be halted, to provide stability in both the curriculum and the examination system.

Copyright Press Association 2015