supporting staff in education: an insight into mental health.

The 2020 ‘supporting staff in education: an insight into mental health’ report, based on a survey of nearly 2,000 teaching staff about their current state of mental wellbeing, suggests that the state of mental health in the education sector is deteriorating: the report shows that mental wellbeing has taken a sharp decline compared to the same period two years prior. Approximately 5% of respondents described their state of mental wellbeing as poor or very poor in our 2017 survey, and our most recent survey has seen nearly a 360% increase to 23% in the number of respondents who described their mental wellbeing as poor or very poor.

"Teachers are pushed for time and resources as it is and many are already suffering from burnout and fatigue. The day-to-day pressures of the role, especially prior to important milestones such as Ofsted inspections are having a detrimental impact on the mental wellbeing of the nation’s teachers. Not only are teachers delivering a curriculum on a restricted budget, 46% say they are not being provided with sufficient PPA time enabling them to adequately prepare for their classes. All of these factors are mounting up. It’s upsetting to find out that 15% admitted to taking more days off due to mental illness compared to the same time period last year.  Schools need to be doing more to support staff and looking out for mental wellbeing, not piling more work and responsibility on their shoulders."