Revealed: The seven biggest causes of teacher stress

By John Roberts. published 22 Nov 2018 www.tes.com 

Marking workload, changes in education policy and school inspection blamed for stressed out teachers

The vast majority of teachers (83 per cent) feel stressed because of their job, new research has revealed.

And nearly a third (32 per cent) are "very stressed". The YouGov poll also asked teachers what the main causes of their stress were, and following seven factors were cited:  

1. 60 per cent of teachers said marking workload

2. 42 per cent said the inspection regime

3. 42 per cent said changing education policy

4. 40 per cent said behaviour management

5. 23 per cent said planning lessons

6. 18 per cent said pressure from parents

7. 18 per cent said league tables

The survey also provides a breakdown of answers based on the seniority of staff.

For classroom teachers workload and marking was said to be the biggest cause of stress.

However for headteachers the inspection regime was the most commonly cited driver of stress.

The poll also gives a breakdown of the stress being felt by teachers in different types of school.

Stress levels were the highest in pupil referral units, with 62 per cent of staff feeling very stressed and another 33 per cent feeling somewhat stressed.

Grammar schools had the lowest proportion of teachers feeling very stressed at 14 per cent of respondents, with another 51 per cent feeling somewhat stressed.

Stress caused by school inspection was a common factor across schools.

However it was higher in maintained schools (44 per cent of teachers), academies (42 per cent), PRUs (41 per cent) and special schools (40 per cent) than it was in grammar schools and independent schools (33 per cent), or free schools (30 per cent).

The YouGov survey has also revealed that the morale of the teaching profession is in decline, with the majority of teachers feeling under valued by society and underpaid.

And it showed the majority of teachers are working in schools which have seen their budgets cut and class sizes increase.

It also sets out the main reasons why teachers choose to work in the profession and reveals that more than half are still satisfied with the job despite the various concerns highlighted.

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