New research finds ChatGPT can cut lesson planning time for teachers by 30%

Teachers using ChatGPT, alongside a guide to support them to use it effectively, can reduce their lesson planning time by 31 per cent. This is according to the findings from a new trial published by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) today. 

The independent evaluation of the trial, led by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), investigated teachers' use of ChatGPT during lesson and resource planning and the impact on their workload.

259 teachers in 68 secondary schools across England took part in the randomised controlled trial. Of those, 129 teachers in 34 schools were randomly allocated to use ChatGPT alongside a guide on effective implementation, to support lesson and resource preparation for their Year 7 and 8 science classes.

The guide was designed by Bain & Company's Social Impact practice with input from a number of schools and education charities, and funded by The Hg Foundation. Most teachers in the ChatGPT group were positive about the guide, agreeing that it was easy to understand and relevant.

The teachers who were allocated to use ChatGPT in the trial used it to help with tasks that included creating questions and quizzes, generating activity ideas, and tailoring existing materials to specific groups of pupils. On average, teachers used ChatGPT to support a third of their Year 7 and 8 science lessons and most commonly to plan for one activity within each lesson.

The evaluators found that the group of teachers who used ChatGPT, shaved off an average of 25.3 minutes from their weekly Year 7 and 8 lesson and resource planning time, compared to the comparison group of teachers who were asked not to use ChatGPT, or any other generative AI tools. This brought their Year 7 and 8 planning time down to 56.2 minutes per week compared to 81.5 minutes in the group asked to avoid using any generative AI. These findings highlight the potential for tools like ChatGPT to help address the stubborn issue of high workloads for teachers.  

As well as looking at the impact on workload of utilising ChatGPT, the research also considered the key question of its impact on lesson quality. A sample of lesson materials and resources collected from teachers were reviewed by an independent panel of teachers. The analysis indicated no noticeable difference in quality between the two groups. Teachers' own perception of the quality of the resources they had produced also aligned with this finding. However, as the independent assessment was based on a limited sample of lesson resources submitted by participating teachers, this finding – while promising - should be treated with caution.  With teachers' use of generative AI tools likely to increase, it will be important that further research looks in detail at the impact of these new technologies on lesson quality, and how they can be utilised in ways that maintain quality and save time.  

In the past year, there has been a huge increase in the demand for and use of generative AI in schools. Today's research is an important first step in building an evidence base around how generative AI tools like ChatGPT can be used in ways that support teachers, particularly in reducing their workload. A review of the evidence, published by the EEF last year, found that that strategies to reduce workload were associated with improved teacher retention.

Saarrah Moosa, Senior Leader of Learning and Head of E-technologies / STEM lead  at Frederick Bremer School and one of the teachers that participated in the trial,  said:

“As a teacher, I have used ChatGPT to assist with lesson planning, drafting adapted tasks, and generating creative prompts for student activities. It has significantly reduced my day-to-day workload by providing quick, high-quality suggestions, which frees up more time to focus on individual student needs and engagement in the classroom.

"I anticipate continuing to use ChatGPT regularly, particularly for planning and administrative tasks, as it has already proven to be an invaluable tool. Moreover, I believe AI platforms like ChatGPT will become a more regular feature in classrooms over time, especially as teachers grow more confident in using them to enhance teaching and learning. A large part of my role this year is to ensure teachers are fully prepared in using ChatGPT to improve teaching and learning.”

Emily Yeomans, co-Chief Executive at Education Endowment Foundation said:

“It's promising to see the positive findings coming through from this research. This provides us with the interesting first piece in the puzzle of AI's role in the future of teaching

“As the teacher recruitment and retention crisis is continuing to grip our education system, there is one issue we hear about again and again – an unmanageable, high workload. If AI has the potential to help address this then we must explore not just if, but how we could harness these technologies to save teachers' time without reducing quality.

“Only by providing teachers with the best possible tools and support to do their job will we ensure that all pupils are able to truly reach their potential at school.

“Now we must look to build a far clearer picture of the best use of AI in education, using this initial research as a springboard to further research and development of an evidence-informed approach.”

Department for Education Minister, Stephen Morgan said:

“We are determined to break down the barriers to opportunity to ensure every child can get the best start in life – and that includes access to tech innovations for all. The AI revolution has the potential to transform teaching and help our brilliant teachers to drive high and rising standards in education.

“This research shows how AI represents an exciting opportunity to give our school leaders and teachers a helping hand with classroom life. That's why the government has announced £4m investment to make AI tools safer and more reliable for classroom use, and why we continue to engage with the sector, developers and parents to ensure we make tech work for our hard-working teachers and ease the pressures and workload burdens we know are facing the profession.”

Ben Styles, Head of Classroom Practice and Workforce at NFER said:

“It is exciting to discover that, on average, teachers saved time with their lesson planning when using ChatGPT. This appears to have been without any reduction in lesson quality, although more research is needed to be sure of this. It is important to note that using AI was reserved for certain specific activities within lesson planning. Although teachers found it helpful, other aspects of their workload such as marking and administration probably represent a greater burden and we look forward to exploring the potential for AI to make inroads here too.”

Gemma Cotton, partner at Bain & Company who works extensively with the firm's Social Impact practice, said:

“We know teacher workload is a big issue in schools in the UK, which is contributing to recruitment and retention issues.  We think ChatGPT has great potential for use by teachers, so we wanted to get practical and provide a starting point for new users on how to get great results for use in the classroom.

“In developing the ‘Teaching with ChatGPT' guide, we worked with a team of 40 teachers from our network of partner schools, as well as on initial trials, to understand the best places to use the AI technology, what teachers can achieve with it, and best practices to secure the most effective results. At Bain, we were excited to support this project as an important part of our social impact work with communities in the UK, focused on fostering better futures and upward mobility through education.”

James Turner, CEO of The Hg Foundation, said: “STEM teachers are a highly precious resource and supporting them is a crucial part of our mission to build the pipeline of talent into the sector.   Any tools that free up their time and retain them in the system – especially in the most disadvantaged schools - is a huge win.  So we are delighted that this collaborative effort has shown Generative AI's promise in saving science teachers time.  The results are highly scalable as further adoption depends only on access to free resources.”

ENDS

Additional teacher quotes

Kate House, Key Stage 3 Lead in Science at Dover Girls Grammar School and one of the teachers who took part in the trial, said:

“My husband was an early user of ChatGPT, so I was already familiar with how it supports him in his work every day. So, when I heard about the trial, I was keen to participate. The training materials and tips on how to use it were very helpful. While I've built a substantial bank of excellent resources over my years of teaching, I found ChatGPT particularly useful for quickly creating cover lessons, generating ideas for lesson plans from scratch, and developing multiple-choice questions.  

"I think it's an especially valuable tool for new teachers who may lack extensive resources and need support with structuring lessons. Time is a crucial factor for teachers, so having more opportunity to explore more capabilities of this tool would help uncover its full potential. However, it does raise some important questions too. What does it mean for the future of teaching? Could AI reduce the demand for teachers in the future, or will it remain a support tool rather than becoming a replacement?”

Another of the teachers that participated in the trial reported, through the interviews, that:

“[Using ChatGPT] gave me certainly a good starting point and saved me bags of time from what it would take me to write those worksheets from scratch…It's taking out a lot of that grunt work, of me having to type out all that stuff that I already know. I just need it in a way that I can hand to the students. I can tweak it and change it. That's far quicker, far more efficient.”

Notes to editors

The free guide is available at www.teachingwithchatgpt.org.uk.