Research published by the Department of Education shows that while more than three-quarters of school leaders have received a request for flexible working from a staff member in the past five years, over a quarter have rejected a request.

In a report released by the DfE today - Exploring flexible working practice in schools - data shows that 29 per cent of 1,589 school leaders reported that that flexible working requests had been declined in their schools in the last five years, despite the majority of school leaders receiving these requests.

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In the survey, 92 per cent of 1,371 school leaders said that childcare was the main reason behind requests for flexible working hours, while 57 per cent reported work/life balance as a key driver for requesting flexible working.

The report found that “both senior leaders and teachers most commonly reported that their own requests for flexible working had been declined due to perceptions that flexible working did not work in school environments”.

Writing for Tes today, education secretary Damian Hinds says that teaching must remain a family-friendly profession, noting that teacher wellbeing improves when flexible working hours are in place.

The report also found that 85 per cent of teachers reported that working flexibly had improved their wellbeing.