Schools need more targeted funding and more efforts to improve teacher wellbeing, according to a charity that found three-quarters of staff were stressed.
The majority of school staff (75 per cent) and leaders (84 per cent) said they were stressed, in a survey by Education Support.
And 59 per cent of all educational staff and leaders surveyed said they have considered leaving in the past academic year due to pressures on their mental health.
Education Support said more than two-thirds (68 per cent) of these respondents cited heavy workload as the main reason for them thinking of leaving.
An even higher percentage (78 per cent) said they have experienced symptoms of poor mental health such as insomnia, forgetfulness or tearfulness, due to their work - rising to 87 per cent of senior leaders.
Some 67 per cent of senior leaders said they have considered leaving in the past year due to pressures on their mental health, in the online survey of 3,082 senior leaders, school teachers and support staff, carried out in June and July for this year’s Teacher Wellbeing Index, in conjunction with YouGov.
Fears for teachers’ mental health
More than half (55 per cent) of those staff who have considered leaving have actively sought to change or leave their current job.
Researchers used the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale to gauge how different groups and those in different regions were feeling.
Scores between 41 and 45 mean the person should be considered at high risk of psychological distress, while scores below 40 suggest an individual could be at high risk of major depression, the organisation said.
Scores were lower - indicating poorer wellbeing - for younger staff and those who had been in the profession for fewer years.
Of all parts of the UK, staff in Northern Ireland had the highest wellbeing score at 45.96 - although that was down on 47.26 in 2021.
The North West of England had the lowest score this year with 42.54.
Education Support said that without “decisive action”, the government risks the “acceleration of current worrying trends”, including an increasingly burnt-out workforce, a worsening of the retention and recruitment crisis, and poorer health outcomes for the education workforce.
The charity’s report says: “We need ambitious, fully funded initiatives that address the systemic drivers of stress and poor mental health in the education sector, including funding, intensification of workload and the status and autonomy of the profession.”
It also calls for specific funding targeted “at the most significant drivers of stress”, which it cites as workload and work-life balance. The charity urges the Department for Education to implement the wellbeing policy test outlined in the Wellbeing Charter and asks for improvements in ensuring that wellbeing requirements are met for staff.
Sinead Mc Brearty, chief executive of Education Support, said the findings “paint a grave picture for the future of education”.
“The prime minister has made clear his commitment to growth and the skills agenda, but the reality is the education workforce crisis will not magic itself away, and we are witnessing the slow disintegration of the workforce,” she said.
“Whilst these data make difficult reading for everyone involved in trying to make the system the best it can be, the simple fact is that we are failing.
“Our children and young people deserve so much more from us. It is time to invest in the workforce and to remove the well-documented drivers of significant stress in the system.”
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “The results of this study show a profession that is in crisis because of government underfunding and an excessive regime of inspections and performance tables.
“This situation leaves teachers, leaders and support staff having to do more work with fewer resources, resulting in a heavy toll on wellbeing and making it difficult to recruit and retain staff. The government must invest more in the education workforce and improve working conditions. This is key to the quality of education it is possible to provide to children.”
Dame Alison Peacock, chief executive of the Chartered College of Teaching, added: “Trust and autonomy are very important for a strong professional culture, and it is worrying that so many teachers feel a lack of trust. But it is difficult to create a culture of trust as a leader in a target-driven system, where poverty is increasing and resources are too low to close the gaps.”
Dame Alison also stated that “trust has to start with the government treating teachers and leaders as knowledgeable and skilled professionals”.
