A survey suggests 53 per cent of teachers in England are thinking of quitting the profession in the next two years, due to concerns about workload and morale in the profession.
This information comes from the National Union of Teachers (NUT), who conducted the survey, undertaken using a representative sample of teachers. The union questioned 1,020 primary and secondary school teachers.
It found 57 per cent would quit because they wanted an improved work/life balance, whilst 61 per cent blamed workload for the reason they wanted to leave. Also, two thirds thought that morale in the profession had fallen in the last five years.
Additionally, 62 per cent felt plans for 500 new free schools would be damaging to education, whilst 76 per cent believed forcing schools which require improvement to become academies would also be damaging to education.
These statistics come after five main teaching unions warned last month that recruitment and retention could face a crisis, although the vacancy rate has remained stable at approximately 1 per cent, according to the government.
“Teachers feel that the Department for Education’s work thus far to tackle workload has been totally inadequate,” said Christine Blower, general secretary of the NUT.
“While the vast majority of teachers stay in their roles for more than five years, we know unnecessary workload can detract from what matters most – teaching.”
“That’s why we launched the Workload Challenge and are working with the profession to understand and tackle the top issues that teachers said caused the most bureaucracy, with leading education experts taking action on key areas such as marking and lesson planning.”