This year’s Teacher Wellbeing Index reports notable increases in stress levels among teachers and school leaders in both primary and secondary schools over the last 12 months.
Furthermore, more teachers and school leaders have experienced mental health problems, symptoms of anxiety, burn-out and exhaustion.
The report, which is published annually by the education wellbeing charity Education Support, concludes that teacher wellbeing has “declined significantly over the past year” and even raises concerns about “specific cohorts at risk of suicide”.
The research comes after the death earlier this year of headteacher Ruth Perry, who took her own life ahead of the publication of an Ofsted inspection report that was due to downgrade her outstanding school to inadequate.
The Teacher Wellbeing Index also investigated the impact of school inspection on staff wellbeing, with a majority of respondents saying that inspections are not fit-for-purpose and that they affect staff mental health and wellbeing.
The research this year involved 3,004 teachers, school leaders and support staff working across the UK and across the phases. The bulk of the respondents have been working in schools for between 6 and 30 years. The headline findings include:
Stressed?
- Teachers: 78% are stressed (up 6% on 2022).
- Senior leaders: 89% (up 5% on 2022 and rising to 95% of headteachers).
- Support staff: 63% (down 5% on 2022).
Have you experienced mental health issues in the last year?
- Teachers: 41% (up 4%)
- Senior leaders: 37% (down 2%)
- Support staff: 35% (up 4%)
Symptoms of anxiety?
- Teachers: 47% (up 1%)
- Senior leaders: 44% (up 3%)
- Support staff: 39% (down 1%)
Symptoms of exhaustion?
- Teachers: 35% (up 6%)
- Senior leaders: 41% (no change)
- Support staff: 21% (down 6%)
Symptoms of burn-out?
- Teachers: 36% (up 9%)
- Senior leaders: 40% (up 3%)
- Support staff: 29% (up 8%)
The research highlights a range of mental health, stress and anxiety-related symptoms that teaching staff and leaders have reported.
The most common are insomnia and difficulty sleeping (reported by 51% of teachers and 55% of senior leaders) and irritability and mood swings (49% of teachers and 52% of senior leaders). Others include difficulty concentrating, migraines, high-blood pressure, and tearfulness.
The findings also warn that 14% of the respondents report feeling lonely or isolated at work – this is double the rate for the population as a whole.
In particular 11% of the respondents, including 13% of senior leaders, report both burn-out and isolation at work, and 5% of all staff are experiencing acute stress, burn-out, and isolation.
It has led Education Support to raise a specific warning that these colleagues will be at an elevated risk of suicidal ideation.
The report states: “We are particularly concerned about the proportion of educators who experience acute stress or burn-out and also feel isolated from others always or often at work.”
The charity points to recent research highlighting the link between occupational stress and suicidal ideation, as well as the association between burn-out and predictors of suicide.
The report adds: “Social relationships, at work and personally, are an important external protective factor to reduce suicide and poor mental health. We are deeply concerned about the population that experiences loneliness alongside acute stress and/or burn-out. The combination of these factors points to an elevated mental health risk, up to and including an indicative elevated suicide risk factor.”
When it comes to Ofsted, the report finds that 85% of the respondents working in England believe that inspection has an impact on the mental health and wellbeing of school staff, while 75% said that Ofsted inspection was not fit-for-purpose.
However, 55% of the respondents also said that their school’s culture has a negative effect on their wellbeing with levels up notably since 2022 – 59% of teachers (up 16% since 2022), 55% of senior leaders (up 10%) and 41% of support staff (up 5%).
Sinéad McBrearty, chief executive of Education Support, said: “These are not findings that anyone wants to see. Our education workforce is stressed and unhappy at work. Such high levels of burn-out, overwork and loneliness will not lead to a world class education system.
“Working in schools and colleges is unsustainably demanding and not improved by the level of mistrust the profession has in the inspection process.”
The report urges the governments to overhaul school inspection and increase funding levels. It also recommends the prioritisation of suicide prevention work across the education workforce and says that mental health and wellbeing must be embedded into training frameworks such as the Early Career Framework and National Professional Qualifications.
The report adds: “The frameworks should be updated to reflect the new reality of life in schools – with the necessary time and resources provided – equipping teachers and leaders with the skills they need to stay well, and stay in the job, for the long run.”
Commenting on the research, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said it was yet more evidence that the education workforce is under “unsustainable pressure”.
The findings come after government figures earlier this year revealed that in 2021/22 almost 40,000 teachers quit the chalkface for reasons other than retirement.
Mr Barton continued: “We know that exhaustion and unsustainable workloads are commonly cited as reasons why staff leave, and this survey makes clear that many are suffering from stress, anxiety, and other mental health issues.
“This leads to a vicious cycle with schools struggling to recruit replacements – putting remaining staff under ever-more pressure.
“Significant action to address the long-term erosion of pay and tackle workload across the education sector are needed if the recruitment and retention crisis is to be addressed.
“An excessively harsh system of inspections and performance tables are other areas that have a negative impact on wellbeing. A more proportionate method of holding schools to account, as opposed to one that drives destructive levels of workload, stress and anxiety, is long overdue.
“The lack of trust that school and college staff have in the inspection system, as identified by this survey, is unsurprising and underscores the urgent need for reform in this area.”
Do you need help? Teachers or education staff feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call the Education Support helpline on 08000 562 561. The number is free, open 24/7 and offers immediate support. You do not have to be in crisis to speak to a qualified councillor. If you’re worried you cannot keep yourself safe right now, call 999 or go to A&E.
The SecEd Podcast: Two recent episodes of the SecEd Podcast looked at staff wellbeing. The first looked at what schools can do to support staff and the second interviewed a teacher who quit after burning out. Both episodes offer valuable advice for teachers and school leaders. Find these episodes here.
Report: Education Support: Teacher Wellbeing Index 2023: www.educationsupport.org.uk/resources/for-organisations/research/teacher-wellbeing-index/