Following long-term periods of lockdown at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the traditional office-based 9-5 became much less common for large numbers of professionals. The number of non-teaching graduates who work mostly from home grew by around 200 per cent from 2018-19 to 2022-23.

But with a rigid timetable and strict in-person requirements, the education sector has far more limitations when it comes to workplace flexibility. Despite initiatives from the Department for Education, including a flexible working toolkit and a fleet of ambassador schools, the sector still struggles when it comes to offering flexible roles.

Earlier this year, Tes reported that schools still reject 37 per cent of flexible working requests from women. So how far can the education sector really stretch to meet the needs of a changing workforce?

To explore this issue and get a better understanding of the current recruitment picture in schools, senior editor Simon Lock is joined by three expert panellists:

• Angela Bull, director of HR at the Unity Schools Partnership

• Lesley Birch, deputy CEO at Meridian Trust and strategic lead at the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Teaching School Hub

• Rachel Mylrea, HR director at Cabot Learning Federation

You can watch the roundtable discussion below. If the video is not visible, you can access it here.