Responding to Education Support’s new teacher wellbeing index, which found that many school leaders and teachers are facing loneliness, stress and burnout, Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“This report paints a truly damning picture of the enormous personal and professional challenges many school leaders and teachers are being expected to overcome to deliver the education our children deserve.

“No parent would want their children to be taught in an environment in which dedicated education professionals are struggling with their mental health and in some cases being driven to despair.

“This situation is being fuelled by Ofsted inspections which can have a devastating, sometimes dangerous, impact upon staff wellbeing, while failing to reliably assess schools or improve pupil outcomes.

“As well as flawed, high-stakes accountability, unsustainable levels of workload and funding challenges are creating a perfect storm and vicious cycle in which the recruitment and retention crisis is growing, heaping more pressure onto beleaguered staff.

“The government must get a grip on the situation and tackle the causes as a matter of urgency - but beyond that, it feels like a complete reset is needed between government and the profession with the aim of rebuilding teaching and school leadership as careers to aspire to.”