By Gavin Mackintosh-
Three-quarters of all school staff in the Uk are stressed and suffering from depression, according to new research has found with symptoms of burnout and depression on the rise for some roles.
Findings from the teacher wellbeing index 2022, carried out by the charity Education Support, reveal a three percentage point increase in the number of education staff who described themselves as stressed since 2021.
A high percentage of senior leaders claimed to experience the greatest stress – with 84 per cent describing themselves as stressed.
Education Support said the figures demonstrated a “saturation of stress at all levels of the school workforce”.
The findings highlight the need to address the issues that cause stress among teachers in schools.
The pressure of meeting required high standards in many primary and secondary schools by helping pupils measure up to the standards of the best schools are one of the causative factors of stress of staff.
A number of teachers are highly devoted to supporting pupils in their schools, and are also burdened with workload, including preparation, marking, and in many cases, extra time in both paid and unpaid tuition of pupils after school hours. The overall stress of their work ca sometimes be exacerbated by their private relationships outside of work, including their love life.
Another contributing factor in some schools is the stress of dealing with badly behaved pupils and sometimes very difficult and challenging parents who support their very difficult children against teachers.
Research also shows that a number of stressed teachers have difficult relationships with their colleagues
Commenting on the findings, Place2Be, a children’s mental health charity that works in schools, encouraged a “whole school approach” to wellbeing given a comparative rise in issues among pupils.
Earlier this year, the number of children and young people being treated for mental health problems a month reached a record high of 400,000, according to NHS data.
“School leaders, teachers and support staff play a crucial role in supporting children’s mental health and wellbeing and when we get this right, the whole school community thrives,” Place2Be’s CEO, Catherine Roche, said.
“We can only help children to achieve their full potential if the adults around the children are also in a good place.”
The latest teacher wellbeing index, which covers the 2021-22 academic year, is also set against a backdrop of increasing recruitment and retention challenges in the sector, tightened budgets and ongoing Covid recovery.
Responses came from 3,082 staff across primaries, secondaries, sixth-form and further education colleges, early years and adult education settings.
Those working in secondaries and primaries were most likely to report being stressed – at 79 per cent and 78 per cent respectively.
Symptoms of mental health issues are on the rise among staff
Meanwhile, though the number of staff reporting experiencing a mental health issue dropped by seven percentage points on 2021 to 36 per cent this year, symptoms of poor mental health actually increased.
Half, or 50 per cent, of all staff said they had experienced insomnia or difficult sleeping.
Another 44 and 41 per cent reported difficulties with concentrating and forgetfulness respectively.
Asked if they felt, or it had been suggested to them, that their symptoms were a sign of burnout, 28 per cent of all respondents agreed.
This was most common among senior leaders – including heads, deputies and assistants – with 37 per cent reporting their symptoms as burnout, a rise of five percentage points on 2021.
The figure also increased by five percentage points among school teachers, with 27 per cent reporting signs of burnout.
Separately, 27 per cent of overall respondents said they felt, or it had been suggested, that their symptoms of poor mental health were a sign of depression.
When their scores were measured using the Warwick-Edinburgh Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS), 35.5 per cent of education staff were found to have a score of 40 or below, which indicates probable depression.
The average wellbeing score for England’s population is 52.40.
Declining mental health could also make matters worse in terms of staff retention. Nearly two-thirds, or 59 per cent, of all staff said they had considered leaving the education sector in 2021-22.
Of those, 55 per cent said they had actively sought to change their current job in the same timeframe.
Schools Week previously reported that the average wellbeing score among senior leaders stood at 43.37 in 2021-22, the lowest in four years.
A Department for Education spokesperson said it had taken action to support the mental health and wellbeing of teachers and school leaders, including through a counselling scheme delivered by Education Support.
“We have also launched the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter, which commits to reducing unnecessary teacher workload, champions flexible working and improves access to wellbeing resources,” they added.
“Alongside this, we are investing an extra £2 billion into our schools next year and the year after. This will be the highest real terms spending on schools in history totalling £57.3 billion by 2024/2