Education Support have published their annual report investigating the mental health and well-being of senior leaders, teachers and support staff working in education in the UK.
The Teacher Wellbeing Index 2022 shows that all staff roles are reporting well-being scores lower than the general population – with stress, depression and anxiety all remaining unsustainably high. School support staff’s stress levels and depression have also increased, demonstrating a saturation of stress at all levels of the school workforce.
Paul Whiteman, NAHT general secretary, said:
“Sadly, these findings sound very familiar, and reflect what we are hearing from our members. Crushing workload and high-stakes accountability, burnout following the additional pressures during the pandemic, and salaries worth 24% less than they were a decade ago, have left many school leaders at breaking point. We know that more school leaders than ever before are considering leaving the profession – and fewer and fewer middle leaders are aspiring to headship. The people in front of our children have the biggest impact on learner outcomes. Strong leaders and skilled teachers make all the difference. But unless the government acts urgently to restore pay and make school leadership an attractive proposition for teaching professionals, the school leadership supply pipeline is going to run dry. The fact that leaders in particular are reporting high levels of stress and burnout should come as a real wake-up call to government.”
Read the Teacher Wellbeing Index 2022 report
First published 29 November 2022