Stress taking ‘immense toll’ on teachers in England as union debates industrial action

Stress is taking an “immense toll” on the lives of teachers in England, with only 1.5% of those working in schools unaffected by the high levels of strain that plagues their colleagues.

The findings from research by the National Education Union (NEU) reveal that one in three state school teachers in England are stressed at work for at least four fifths of the time, while only a tiny fraction said they are never overstretched.

The research is published as NEU members gather in Harrogate this week for the union’s annual conference, and are expected to debate taking industrial action over pay and working conditions.

A majority of the 14,000 teachers surveyed said they regularly have to work during the evenings and weekends catch up, and a third said they “frequently cancel plans with family and friends” to get on top of their workload.

Even the long holidays envied by other professions are not all they seem. One in three teachers said they “always” had to deal with work during the school holidays, while fewer than one in 10 said they are able to enjoy a complete break.

One teacher responded: “You feel exhausted all the time and guilty for sacrificing your own family time. It is not a profession which allows you to have a life outside of work and it is mentally draining and detrimental to your mental and physical health.”

Daniel Kebede, the NEU’s general secretary, said: “Teachers have no hesitation in doing their utmost for pupils. It is a vocation and a profession that takes pride in delivering the best for young people. But we have to face up to the immense toll this takes on teachers every day.

“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.

“Leaders are forced to stretch staff ever more and the persistent problems with recruitment and retention compound the problem. Our members are working long hours in the knowledge there is no army of new colleagues riding to the rescue.”

The research found many teachers attribute workload problems to staff shortages and retention issues, including unfilled vacancies and lack of support staff, as well as absences through illness.

Kebede said: “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.”

The NEU conference is set to consider a formal ballot for strike action after rejecting the government’s offer of a 2.8% increase for 2025-26. Union leaders argue that pay rises should be fully funded by the government, and not taken out of existing school budgets.

An indicative online ballot of NEU members showed that 84% supported action over pay. Turnout was just 47% of those eligible to vote, below the 50% legal minimum for industrial action that would be required in a formal ballot.