“We have to find a way to reverse the trend of teachers and leaders working longer hours against a backdrop of an ever-widening range of tasks and growing number of expectations. The big increase in the number of teachers and leaders considering leaving education is deeply worrying and this survey reveals that workload is a relevant factor in almost every case.
“There is a vicious cycle of teachers departing the profession as a result of workload factors, remaining staff being put under increasing pressure and a lack of government action to address the underlying problems. It’s also very dispiriting that so many people are being put off from applying for promotion due to concerns about the impact on their work/life balance. We risk losing the next generation of school leaders if we cannot solve this issue.
“There has been a change of government since this survey was carried out, and with that there needs to be a change of approach. The ambition of recruiting 6,500 new teachers is welcome, but alongside this we also need to see a focus on improving retention rates. This survey could hardly make it any clearer that tackling longstanding concerns around workload will be fundamental to fixing the recruitment and retention crisis. We look forward to working with the government, building on the work of the Workload Reduction Taskforce, to determine how this can best be achieved.”