Many schools fail to provide teachers with adequate facilities, resources and support systems to maintain their mental health and wellbeing, according to members of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union.

As part of a motion on teacher wellbeing at this year’s Annual Conference, NASUWT members have called for all teachers to have access to an Employee Assistance Programme, alongside allocated time in the work day for meaningful wellbeing activities.

NASUWT’s latest Big Question Survey, which analysed responses from 10,500 teachers across the UK, found that in the last year:

• 82% of teachers think that work has negatively affected their mental health, and 80% have experienced more work-related stress than in the previous year;
• 42% of teachers have seen a doctor due to work impacting their physical or mental health;
• 79.4% of teachers have lost sleep due to work, 69% have experienced headaches or migraines, and 23.3% have experienced high blood pressure;
• 23% of teachers have drunk alcohol due to work, and 13.4% have used anti-depressants;
• 16.5% of teachers have undergone counselling or therapy due to work.

Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT General Secretary, said:

“Teaching is a job that comes with many rewards, but it is clear from our data that it also comes with unacceptable risks to teachers’ physical and mental health.

“Teachers today face a litany of challenges around their workload and working conditions, including pupil behaviour.  There is a legal duty on employers to take proactive steps to ensure the health, safety and welfare of staff. We need to see employers demonstrating that they are taking seriously these issues.

“Teachers have been left plugging gaps that were once filled by absent colleagues or external services. They are expected to play the role of social worker, security guard, counsellor, food bank, educational psychologist, or even parent. Pressure to be everything a pupil needs is a significant contributor to poor teacher wellbeing.

“The Government’s Wellbeing Charter has been widely promoted to all schools. We now need to see exhortation become an expectation, where a national deadline is set for every school to adopt the ‘Education Staff Wellbeing Charter’ in full.

“Employers and the Government must step up to make sure they are safeguarding the health and wellbeing of teachers, including better access to wellbeing services.”