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A recent report from the charity Education Support highlights that the wellbeing of teachers across the UK has reached its lowest point since 2019. The data paints a troubling picture of an education workforce facing a crisis that threatens both staff retention and student outcomes. The organization warns that if efforts are not made to support teachers, the quality of education for young people will decline.
According to Education Support’s annual Teacher Wellbeing Index, which surveyed over 3,000 education professionals through YouGov between June and July of this year, stress and mental health challenges are widespread. Their findings reveal that 76% of respondents felt stressed, 77% experienced symptoms linked to poor mental health because of their work, and 86% of senior leaders reported stress often accompanied by burnout and exhaustion. The survey assessed wellbeing using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS), where UK education staff scored significantly lower than the general population, with an average of 43 compared to population scores above 48 in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Alarmingly, 36% of respondents recorded scores indicative of probable clinical depression.
Sinéad McBrearty, chief executive of Education Support, stressed the urgent need for a robust national strategy focused on retaining teachers by prioritizing their wellbeing. She expressed concern that without such measures, more educators will leave, consequently harming the education of children and young people. This sentiment echoes the experiences of many, including Hilary Mitchell, a former primary school head teacher who left teaching after 32 years. Mitchell described her departure as heartbreaking but necessary due to relentless pressure and dwindling resources, stating, “I was so exhausted when I got home. I couldn’t sleep. It was making me very irritable, because of the constant demands and never feeling like you’re doing a good enough job.”
Some schools have begun implementing creative approaches to support staff wellbeing and retention. Simon Hart, principal of Springwest Academy in west London, emphasized introducing a “culture of kindness” within the school environment to foster trust, belonging, and self-esteem among staff. His school adjusted the weekly timetable to allow early Friday finishes and offers online parents’ evenings, easing stress on both teachers and parents. Additionally, the leadership team handles behavior management rather than front-line teachers, reducing workload and allowing teachers to focus on teaching. Hart noted that these changes have positively impacted not only staff wellbeing and retention but also school culture and student attainment.
Despite these individual successes, teaching unions remain vocal about the severity of the issue. The National Education Union (NEU) and NASUWT stress that educators are being pushed out of classrooms due to escalating stress and pressure. The Association of School and College Leaders and the National Association of Head Teachers have highlighted that the profession’s many rewards are increasingly overshadowed by these challenges. Meanwhile, the Department for Education maintains that it is fulfilling its manifesto commitments to recruit and retain more teachers, including addressing issues such as pupil behavior, workload, and staff wellbeing. However, analysis by the National Foundation of Educational Research earlier this year showed record-high unfilled vacancies and persistently low recruitment into teacher training, indicating ongoing difficulties in reversing the current crisis
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