More than four out of five school leaders have said the pressure of their job is affecting their sleep, according to a new poll.

A new report from the NAHT school leaders’ union reveals the damaging impact the job is having on the lives of headteachers, Tes can reveal.

The union’s general secretary, Paul Whiteman, is warning that the country is facing a school leadership drought and that the Covid-19 outbreak could make the situation worse.

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The NAHT has published a new report, which reveals that 82 per cent of its members said in a survey that their work had “impacted negatively” on the quality and quantity of their sleep.

A similar proportion (79 per cent) said their work meant they did not have time to exercise and three-quarters said the job had a negative impact on their family or personal life.

School leadership ‘has become unattractive’

The union has also found that more than a third of school leaders would not recommend teaching as a profession to those outside of it.

The NAHT has described its findings as shocking and warned the government that urgent action is needed to both retain existing leaders and ensure that teaching is an attractive profession for future heads.

Three-quarters of school leaders told the union that their job had resulted in an increase in work-related worry, fear or stress (75 per cent).

And around two-thirds (61 per cent) of respondents stated that their role had a negative impact on their mental health, while more than half (52 per cent) said that their physical health had been affected.

Almost three-quarters (73 per cent) of school leaders surveyed said they were aware of at least one member of staff leaving the profession for reasons other than retirement. Three-quarters (75 per cent) identified workload pressures as the key reason for leaving.

Mr Whiteman said: “Schools need leaders, but we have too few of them at present. School leadership has become an unattractive career proposition, which is a huge problem in a system that already has the least experienced workforce in the OECD [Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development]. 

“We are concerned that the challenges of lockdown might exacerbate the ‘leadership drought’ which already exists. 

“Decisive action is urgently needed if we are to have sufficient school leaders for the future. A step-change is needed that establishes teaching as a sustainable professional career choice, positioning it alongside other comparable occupations such as law, medicine and accountancy.   

“A lack of experienced leaders risks harming standards and is bad for pupils. Urgent action is needed to restore the career continuum in the teaching profession, so that we retain sufficient experienced professionals to become the leaders of tomorrow.

“We desperately need to create a compelling proposition that will support individuals in building a decades-long career in education.” 

The DfE has been approached for comment.