Teachers Report Increase in Unfilled Posts and Worsening Stress, Poll Finds

Staffing has also been impacted by higher levels of sickness, with 71 percent of teachers saying that absence from illness at their schools had increased.

A teacher marking homework in a file photo. PA

Nearly half (48 percent) of teachers in England have reported that the number of unfilled or temporarily filled roles has increased in the past year, according to a poll.

A survey of some 14,000 state school teachers by the National Education Union (NEU) published on Monday also found that more than half (56 percent) of respondents said that the rate of staff leaving their workplace had become worse.

Recruitment also appears to be an issue, with 54 percent saying the need to readvertise vacancies had increased.

With regards to recruitment pressures, some 61 percent of teachers reported seeing an increase in colleagues doubling up on teaching roles and leadership responsibilities.

Staffing has also been impacted by higher levels of sickness, with 71 percent of teachers telling the union that absence owing to illness at their schools had increased.

Low Levels of Improvement

The NEU survey, conducted between Jan. 28 and Feb. 9, asked teachers to give feedback on the state of different facets of their work, specifically staffing, stress, and work-life balance.

Teachers reported that almost all indicators related to staffing had become worse, with the proportion of those who said that staff recruitment and retention had improved being in the single digits.

The report authors noted of this trend, “The low levels of ‘improvement’ reported in these areas of recruitment and retention tell their own story, of a profession under enormous pressure to deliver with diminished resources.”

The perception that recruitment is suffering is supported by recent analysis of the Schools Workforce Census by the National Foundation for Educational Research, which found that vacancy levels for teaching were at their highest rates since 2010.

Stress and Work-Life Balance

The survey also found that stress continues to be a major factor in the workplace, with 63 percent saying it affected them at least 60 percent of the time, including one-third (33 percent) who said it impacted them at least 80 percent of the time.

Very few—around 1.5 percent—responded that they were so unaffected by stress that they had not thought about it or never experienced it.

In terms of work-life balance, a combined 75 percent of teachers said they always (41 percent) or often (34 percent) struggle to switch off from work-related tasks or thoughts when they are at home.

Another combined 63 percent said that they always (26 percent) or often (37 percent) had to work evenings, with 54 percent saying that they always (27 percent) or often (27 percent) had to work on weekends.

Report authors noted that the findings also undermine the “myth of long school holidays for teachers,” after a combined 91 percent said that they have always (31 percent), often (28 percent), or sometimes (32 percent) had to work during the break.

Toll Being Taken on Teachers

The NEU is calling on the government to take action on workload as well as increase pay, which will help with recruitment and retention.

The union also said there was a “clear need” for more flexible working, to make the profession more compatible with family life.

School children during a Year 5 class at a primary school in Yorkshire, England, on Nov. 27, 2019. Danny Lawson/PA Wire

NEU General Secretary Daniel Kebede said, “We have to face up to the immense toll this takes on teachers every day.”

He continued: “It cannot be right that we have a working culture which invades every aspect of a teacher’s life. The government’s own figures show that working hours are out of hand and they are getting worse.”

Kebede said that because of staff shortages, leaders are forced to stretch current staff “ever more,” with them working long hours “in the knowledge there is no army of new colleagues riding to the rescue.”

Easing Workload Pressures

The union leader added: “Underfunding of schools and colleges is at the heart of the problem, but so is the undervaluing of teachers and support staff. We need to see a major pay correction not only to attract more into the profession, but also to keep them.

“It is short-sighted of any government to continue to ignore the root-and-branch solutions that are so obviously needed.”

In response, a Department for Education (DfE) spokesperson said: “We value the incredible school staff in our classrooms—they are vital to improving life chances for all children through our Plan for Change.

“We are working together with partners across the education sector to reestablish teaching as an attractive, expert profession—and are already taking action to ease workload pressures and support wellbeing, embedding flexible working and investing in key education priorities.”

The DfE said that on top of the 5.5 percent pay award last year, work has begun to recruit an additional 6,500 teachers. The department said that £233 million will be made available next year “to get more talented people at the front of our classrooms driving high and rising standards for children.”

PA Media contributed to this report.