NEARLY half of state school teachers in England plan to quit in the next five years due to high workloads and crippling stress, a new survey from the National Education Union (NEU) reveals.

The shocking poll, unveiled on the opening day of the union’s annual conference in Bournemouth, shows 44 per cent of the workforce want to leave the profession by 2027, with half intending to leave within the next two years.

Just over half — 52 per cent — of the 1,788 teachers who responded to the NEU’s State of Education survey, conducted earlier this year, say their workload is either “unmanageable” or “unmanageable most of the time,” a significant rise of 17 per cent in the last year.

The Tory government’s own research suggests teachers in England work an average of 50 hours a week, well above the 41 hours seen in comparable nations. 

There is a “severe and growing problem with workload,” the union said, as Ofsted inspections return after pandemic-related suspensions and “ever-present accountability demands clash with the urgent challenges of educational recovery.”

The research also found that two thirds of staff feel stressed at least 60 per cent of the time, while 73 per cent report their school finding it even harder to fill vacant posts during the health crisis.

One teacher reported being desperate to escape the profession, while another told the survey that “everything is pared to the bone.”

And members describe supply teachers and teaching assistants increasingly being asked to double up and deliver lessons due to budgetary constraints, the NEU said.

“We have increased leadership responsibilities, but our time to carry this out has been axed,” one worker said. “Classes are covered by teaching assistants on a regular basis, as if this is perfectly satisfactory.”

Besides the workload and stress, 38 per cent of teachers planning to leave by 2027 feel the profession is “not valued or trusted by the government and media,” while concerns over pay and retirement are also common.

Classroom teachers are calling for reduced teaching time in favour of space for planning, preparation and assessment, while smaller class sizes — now at a 40-year high — are also needed, they said.

Nearly six in 10 — 57 per cent of — school leaders want a less punitive inspection service in order to alleviate workload pressures and 48 per cent are asking for more staff to be hired.

NEU joint general secretary Dr Mary Bousted said the current situation is unsustainable and can only lead to burnout. 

“The government would do well to not just accept that high workload is a problem but that they have played a starring role in many of the contributing factors.

“Our survey shows that whether it be recruitment targets missed, talented teachers leaving the profession, the pernicious effects of a punitive and deeply flawed inspection system or the effect of real-terms cuts to pay, a national policy decision is always the villain of the piece.

Industrial reporter @TrinderMatt

“Let us be in no doubt: teaching is a great and fulfilling job, and people go into the profession because they want to make a difference.

“Yet the government makes this more difficult, and if we are to collectively do the right thing for young people, then we must be able to deliver the education they deserve.

“That change must come from the top.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said that it is “enormously grateful” to hard-working staff and claimed it will “continue to work proactively with the sector to take action to improve teacher and leader workload and wellbeing.”