If your school hands you a directed time calendar and you want to know whether it really fits inside 1,265 hours, this directed time calculator does the arithmetic for you. Enter your normal school day, your INSET days, your staff meetings, parents’ evenings and any trapped time, and it totals your directed hours for the academic year and compares them with your maximum.
Directed Time Calculator (1,265 Hours)
Breakdown
Teachers covered by the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) in England and Wales are required to be available for work for a maximum of 1,265 hours over 195 days a year. Part-time teachers get a pro-rata share of that maximum, which the calculator works out from your full-time fraction or from your School Timetabled Teaching Week. Everything below the tool explains what counts, how each figure is worked out, and how to check the result against your school's directed time calendar.
This is an independent tool rather than an official NEU calculator, and it is not legal advice. It totals the hours you enter and compares them with the 1,265-hour maximum.
How to Use the Directed Time Calculator
The calculator is built around the way a directed time calendar is normally put together: the hours you are on site during the normal day, plus everything you are directed to do outside it.
Step 1: Set Your Working Pattern
Choose Full-time or Part-time. Full-time keeps the maximum at 1,265 hours. Part-time asks for your full-time fraction, or lets you switch to the School Timetabled Teaching Week method, and scales the maximum accordingly.
Step 2: Enter Your Normal School Day
Step 2 covers everything you are directed to be in school for on a normal day. There are two ways to enter it, and you only need one of them.
From Start and Finish Times
Enter the time your directed day starts, the time it ends, the minutes of lunch that are not directed time, and the number of teaching days in your year. The calculator works out the directed hours in one day and multiplies by the number of days.
From Timetabled Activities
If you would rather build the day from your timetable, switch to the second tab and enter timetabled teaching hours a week, PPA hours a week, the number of teaching weeks, and the daily minutes of registration and mid-session breaks. Weekly items are multiplied by teaching weeks, daily items by teaching days.
Step 3: Add the Hours Outside the Normal Day
- Non-teaching (INSET) days: the number of days and the directed hours on each one.
- Extra supervision and duties: annual hours for duties that fall outside the day you entered in step 2.
- Meetings and evening events: hours per event multiplied by the number of events, with separate rows for staff meetings, parents' evenings and other meetings.
- Trapped time: hours per occasion multiplied by the number of occasions.
- Anything else: add your own named rows for open evenings, transition days, appraisal meetings or anything else you are directed to attend.
Step 4: Read Your Results
The results panel updates as you type. It shows your total directed time for the year, your applicable maximum, the hours left or the hours over, the percentage of the maximum used, your average directed hours per working day, and a breakdown by category. Copy results puts the figures on your clipboard and Print produces a clean copy of the results without the input fields.
What Directed Time Means
Directed time is the time you are required by the headteacher to be available for work, at a place and time the headteacher specifies. It is not the same as the total time teaching takes: it is the part of your working year that the school directs and therefore has to schedule and account for.
Because it is scheduled time, it can be added up in advance. That is what a directed time calendar does, and it is what this calculator reproduces.
The 1,265 Hours in Plain Terms
For a full-time teacher covered by the STPCD, directed time is capped at 1,265 hours across 195 days. Of those 195 days, up to 190 are days on which you can be required to teach; the remainder are non-teaching days such as INSET.
Maximum directed time = 1,265 hours across 195 days
The figure is a ceiling, not a workload target. A school can allocate fewer hours and keep the rest as contingency, and many directed time calendars deliberately do.
Who the 1,265 Hours Applies To
The maximum applies to teachers covered by the STPCD. According to the National Education Union, teachers on the leadership scale, headteachers, support staff and teachers not covered by the STPCD are not contractually required to work to a maximum of 1,265 hours over 195 days.
Academies and other employers can set their own contractual arrangements, so if you work in an academy, check your contract before treating 1,265 hours as your limit. You can still use the calculator for the arithmetic and compare the total with whatever maximum applies to you.
Directed Time Is Not Teaching Time
Teaching time is the time you spend teaching classes. Directed time is wider: it includes teaching, but also registration, PPA, mid-session breaks, duties, meetings, parents' evenings and INSET. Two teachers with the same teaching timetable can have very different directed time totals once meetings and duties are added.
Directed time is greater than teaching time
What Counts Towards Your 1,265 Hours
The National Education Union lists all potential teaching time, PPA, registration, mid-session breaks, trapped time, staff meetings, parents' evenings and INSET days as directed time, and states that lunch time is not part of directed time. The calculator is arranged around that split.
Hours Inside the Normal School Day
Most of the year sits here. If you enter start and finish times, the span between them already contains your teaching, registration, PPA and mid-session breaks, so those do not need to be added again further down the form.
Registration, PPA and Mid-Session Breaks
Registration is directed time, and so is PPA, which cannot be used to direct you to other activities. Mid-session breaks, such as morning break, fall inside the directed day. All three are inside the start-to-finish span, or can be entered separately on the timetabled activities tab.
Lunch, Which Is Not Directed Time
Lunch is not directed time, which is why the calculator asks for the minutes of lunch to take out of the day. If you are required to supervise during that period, the supervision is directed and belongs in the duties field rather than being left inside the lunch deduction.
Hours Outside the Normal School Day
These are the hours a directed time calendar usually lists individually, because they happen on particular dates rather than every day.
INSET Days and Training
Directed activity on non-teaching days counts towards the same 1,265 hours. INSET days are not extra hours on top of the maximum; they are part of the 195-day year.
Trapped Time
Trapped time is the gap between two directed activities that is too short for you to reasonably leave and return, such as the wait between the end of the school day and a twilight meeting. Whether a particular gap is treated as trapped time depends on the circumstances, so check your school's calendar and current guidance before entering it.
The Formulas Behind the Calculator
Every figure in the tool comes from one of three simple calculations.
Directed Hours in the School Day
Daily Directed Hours = Finish Time − Start Time − Lunch Not Directed
Where:
- Finish Time − Start Time = the span of your directed day, in hours
- Lunch Not Directed = the lunch minutes that are not directed time, converted to hours
A day running from 8:30 am to 3:15 pm with a 60-minute lunch gives:
6.75 − 1.00 = 5.75 hours a day
Multiply by the teaching days in your year:
Annual School-Day Hours = Daily Directed Hours × Teaching Days
5.75 × 190 = 1,092.50 hours
Annual Hours From Repeating Activities
Meetings, parents' evenings, INSET days, trapped time and your own custom rows all use the same pattern.
Annual Hours = Hours per Occasion × Number of Occasions
Where:
- Hours per Occasion = the length of one meeting, event or INSET day
- Number of Occasions = how many times it happens in the academic year
A one-hour staff meeting held 38 times gives:
1 × 38 = 38 hours
Three parents' evenings of three hours each give:
3 × 3 = 9 hours
Hours Left, Hours Over and the Percentage Used
Total Directed Time = School-Day Hours + INSET + Duties + Meetings + Trapped Time + Other Hours
Hours Left = Maximum − Total Directed Time
Where Maximum is 1,265 hours for a full-time teacher, or 1,265 multiplied by your fraction if you are part-time. A negative result is shown as hours over the maximum rather than as a negative number, and the percentage bar turns amber as you approach the limit and red once you pass it.
Maximum Used = Total Directed Time ÷ Maximum × 100
Worked Example: A Full-Time Year
Take a full-time teacher whose directed day runs from 8:30 am to 3:15 pm with a 60-minute lunch that is not directed, across 190 teaching days, with five INSET days of five directed hours each, 38 one-hour staff meetings and three three-hour parents' evenings.
Building the Total
| Directed activity | Calculation | Annual hours |
|---|---|---|
| School day | 5.75 × 190 | 1,092.50 |
| INSET days | 5 × 5 | 25.00 |
| Staff meetings | 1 × 38 | 38.00 |
| Parents' evenings | 3 × 3 | 9.00 |
| Total | 1,164.50 |
The comparison with the maximum is then:
1,265 − 1,164.50 = 100.50 hours left
That is 92.06 per cent of the maximum used, with 100.50 hours of contingency still unallocated. Those are the figures the calculator shows when you open it, because this example is loaded by default.
Worked Example: Building the Year From a Timetable
The same teacher can build the school day from the timetable instead. Suppose the timetable shows 22.5 hours of teaching a week, 2.5 hours of PPA a week across 38 teaching weeks, plus 15 minutes of registration and 15 minutes of mid-session break on each of 190 teaching days.
Weekly Hours = (22.5 + 2.5) × 38 = 950 hours
Daily Hours = (15 + 15) ÷ 60 × 190 = 95 hours
School-Day Hours = 950 + 95 = 1,045 hours
Adding the same 25 INSET hours, 38 staff meeting hours and 9 hours of parents' evenings gives 1,117 hours, which leaves 148 hours before the maximum is reached. The two methods rarely match to the minute, because a start-to-finish span also captures the time between lessons, and that difference is worth investigating rather than ignoring.
Part-Time Directed Time
Part-time teachers have the same rules applied pro rata: the 1,265 hours is scaled to the proportion of full-time work.
Using Your Full-Time Fraction
Part-Time Maximum = 1,265 × Full-Time Fraction
For a teacher on 0.6 FTE:
1,265 × 0.6 = 759 hours
The National Education Union gives the same figure for a 0.6 teacher: a maximum of 759 hours of directed time, which is 60 per cent of 1,265 hours.
Using the School Timetabled Teaching Week
Where your fraction is set by your timetable, select Use STTW and enter both figures.
Fraction = Your Timetabled Teaching Week ÷ Full-Time Timetabled Teaching Week
Where:
- Your Timetabled Teaching Week = the hours you are timetabled to teach in a week
- Full-Time Timetabled Teaching Week = the equivalent figure for a full-time teacher in your school
A teacher timetabled for 15 hours in a school where the full-time week is 25 hours has:
15 ÷ 25 = 0.6, so the maximum is 1,265 × 0.6 = 759 hours
Part-Time Teachers and Non-Working Days
A percentage alone does not settle everything. If you work Monday to Wednesday, a meeting or INSET day scheduled on a Thursday needs to be considered under your own contractual arrangements rather than simply divided down. Enter the hours you are actually directed to attend, and raise anything that looks inconsistent with your working pattern.
Avoiding Double Counting
Double counting is the most common reason a directed time total comes out too high. It happens when an activity is included in the school-day span and then entered again as a separate line.
The School Day Already Contains Most Activities
If your day runs 8:30 am to 3:15 pm, that span already includes teaching, registration, PPA, mid-session breaks and any duty you carry out during it. Step 3 of the calculator is only for hours outside that span, which is why it asks for extra duties rather than all duties.
A Quick Sense Check
- Divide your total by the number of days you work. The calculator shows this as average per day.
- If that average is far longer than the hours you are actually in school on a normal day, something is being counted twice.
- Compare each line in the breakdown with the matching line in your school's directed time calendar.
What to Do If Your Total Is Over the Maximum
If the result is above your maximum, the calculator shows how many hours over you are.
Hours Over = Total Directed Time − Maximum
For a full-time teacher totalling 1,280 hours:
1,280 − 1,265 = 15 hours over
- Check the figures first, especially the lunch deduction, the number of teaching days and any activity that might be counted twice.
- Confirm that the 1,265-hour maximum applies to your contract, which it does not for the leadership group or for staff outside the STPCD.
- Compare your total line by line with the school's published directed time calendar.
- If the allocation still exceeds the maximum, raise it with your school and take advice from your union representative.
Contingency and the Directed Time Calendar
A directed time calendar shows how your directed hours are spread across the year: teaching, PPA, registration, duties, meetings, parent consultations, INSET and anything left as contingency.
Why Contingency Matters
Because 1,265 hours is a maximum rather than a target, unused hours are not a gap waiting to be filled. Suppose a calendar totals 1,250 hours:
1,265 − 1,250 = 15 hours of contingency
Those 15 hours give the school room for the unexpected during the year. Scheduling them in advance removes that room.
Work Beyond Directed Time
Directed time is not a limit on every hour a teacher works. Planning, marking and preparation carried out in your own time sit outside the directed time calculation entirely, which is why this calculator measures scheduled availability rather than total workload.
How Accurate Is This Directed Time Calculator?
The arithmetic is exact: every figure comes from the formulas above, and totals are shown to two decimal places. The accuracy of the answer depends on the accuracy of your inputs, so use your real start and finish times, your real number of teaching days, and the actual meeting and INSET hours from your school's calendar.
The calculator cannot decide whether a particular activity is contractually directed time. That judgement depends on your contract, your school's arrangements and current guidance. Use the tool to check the arithmetic, then confirm the result with your directed time calendar and, if anything looks wrong, your union.
Frequently Asked Questions
The 1,265-Hour Maximum
What is the directed time limit for teachers?
For a full-time teacher covered by the STPCD in England and Wales, the maximum is 1,265 hours of directed time across 195 days in the academic year.
Is 1,265 hours a target?
No. It is a maximum. A school does not have to allocate all of it, and any hours left over can be held as contingency rather than scheduled.
Do INSET days come out of the 1,265 hours?
Yes. Non-teaching days are part of the 195-day year, so directed activity on them counts towards the same maximum instead of being added on top.
What Counts as Directed Time
Does PPA count towards directed time?
Yes. PPA is part of directed time, and you cannot be directed to carry out other activities, including meetings or cover, during it.
Does lunch count as directed time?
No. Lunch is not part of directed time, which is why the calculator deducts it. Supervision you are directed to carry out during that period is directed time and should be entered as a duty.
Do staff meetings and parents' evenings count?
Where you are directed to attend, the hours count and should appear in your directed time total. The calculator has separate fields for staff meetings, parents' evenings and other meetings.
Does work I do at home count?
No. Marking, planning and preparation done in your own time are not directed time, because you are not being directed to be available at a specified time and place.
Part-Time and Other Contracts
How is part-time directed time worked out?
Pro rata. Multiply 1,265 by your full-time fraction, or divide your timetabled teaching week by the full-time timetabled teaching week and multiply 1,265 by the result.
What is 60 per cent of 1,265 hours?
1,265 × 0.6 = 759 hours
So a teacher on 0.6 FTE has a maximum of 759 hours of directed time.
Can academy teachers use this calculator?
You can use it for the arithmetic, but check your contract first. Academies and other employers are not all bound by the same arrangements as a maintained school covered by the STPCD.
Using This Calculator
Is this an official NEU calculator?
No. It is an independent tool. For official advice on directed time, go to the National Education Union's directed time guidance or speak to your representative.
Can I save or share the result?
Yes. Copy results copies your total, maximum, hours left and full breakdown as text you can paste into an email or a document, and Print produces a printable version of the results.