Teachers from black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds are being given projects rooted in stereotypes rather than reflecting their personal strengths, a survey of BME (black and minority ethnic) staff has found.

Evidence from more than 1,000 teachers in England found additional workloads included black teachers being asked to lead their school's Black History Month activities, instead of being put in charge of intellectual teacher and learning responsibility (TLR) roles.

Some also claimed the bosses relied on stereotypes as an excuse to hand BME teachers classes with the "most challenging behaviour".

The survey, for the National Union of Teachers (NUT) by race equality think tank Runnymede Trust, found 32% of male and 27% of female teachers did not feel staff were comfortable talking about race or sexism.

Respondents said structural barriers such as racism - including assumptions about capability based on racial and ethnic stereotypes - were everyday experiences for BME teachers.

In particular, BME teachers spoke about an invisible glass ceiling and a widespread perception among senior leadership teams (SLT) that BME teachers "have a certain level and don't go beyond it".

One primary school teacher of Caribbean origin said: "You can bring experiences of your own culture, get children to ask questions about culture, to lead on faith and Black History month.