Working in education remains deeply meaningful, but once again the latest Teacher Wellbeing Index shows a workforce under sustained pressure. This year’s 2025 report, published by Education Support, is the ninth annual study of the mental health and wellbeing of education staff across the UK.
This blog highlights where things have improved, where they’ve stagnated, and where they have worsened. All data is drawn directly from the Teacher Wellbeing Index 2025.
Stress: Broadly Stable, But Still Alarmingly High
In 2024, 78% of teachers and 84% of school leaders reported experiencing stress in the workplace. This year there has been 2 percent decrease in reported stress for teachers, however this marginal gain is offset by the fact that for school leaders there is a 2% increase. Although it could be argued that stress levels have remained stable the high numbers indicate a profession with higher than average levels of stress.
The Index notes that work-related stress, depression and anxiety still account for 46% of UK work-related ill health, with 2.5 million working days lost in education alone. This creates further burdens on staff and impacts educational outcomes.
Workplace Culture: Slight Movement, But Deep Problems Remain
In 2024, half of all school staff felt their organisational culture contributed negatively to their stress. This metric has improved with a five percent point drop to 49% in 2025. Interestingly, only 28% report organisational culture having a positive effect on their stress, which perhaps suggests that school leaders still have lots to learn from other industries. Overall, almost half the profession feels undermined by their work environment. This means that if a professional is to move to a different school, there is a 50:50 chance that culture would negatively impact their mental health. Many school leaders are working hard to improve school culture but such efforts remain isolated and a wider approach is needed.
Work Still Needed To Support Staff Mental Health
There has been no overall change in support for education staff in the domain of mental health. 40% of all staff feel unsupported. Alarmingly, there has been a significant rise in teachers feeling unsupported despite much focus in this area. The Department for Education’s drive to improve the mental health of the workforce through it’s Mental Health Charter is a noble initiative but perhaps needs more commitment and time to produce positive results. The picture is worse for school leaders with 35% feeling unsupported. All of this shows more work is needed to provide effective support structures for teachers and particularly school leaders.
Symptoms Of Poor Mental Health Are More Severe!
Last year, 35% of staff reported experiencing a mental health issue. This figure has decreased by one percentage point. However, the severity and prevalence of symptoms have actually worsened. For example insomnia which can lead to a range of health problems has increased by 8%, whilst tearfulness, irritability, forgetfulness and difficulty concentrating have all increased sharply. Psychological, behavioural and physical symptoms were experienced by 77% of staff, unchanged from last year but still extremely high. When compared to national workplace figures there is mental health gap with 10% more education staff exhibiting signs of anxiety. Worryingly, when it comes to depression 23% of teachers experience symptoms this well above the national average of 16%.
Wellbeing Scores: Now the Lowest Since Records Began
The Index uses the Warwick-Edinburgh Scale to assess wellbeing. Concerningly, the score for education staff in 2025 is 43.9. This is the lowest score since measurements began in 2019. Worst still 36% of school staff score below 41 a figure which equates to probable clinical depression. This is consistent with 2024. Overall, teachers sit 8-11 points below that of the average UK adult population. 2025’s index for the first time used the Office of National Statistics questions on personal wellbeing and again, disappointingly teachers score lower than the UK population on life satisfaction, happiness and worthwhileness. They also score more highly for anxiety. Taking all these figures into account shows that the wellbeing of education staff remains significantly below that of the rest of the UK’s adult population.
Increasing Emotional Burden From Public Service Gaps
The expectations for teachers to carry out duties beyond that of classroom teaching is an emerging trend and one that is amplifying some of the emotional burdens placed on staff. 70% of staff are providing emotional regulation support weekly, which is a 31% increase on pre-pandemic levels, whilst 30% of staff are providing food and a further 24% buy supplies for pupils. Although extremely honourable and altruistic the gaps they are filling in overstretched public services is taking it’s toll with 49% of staff saying these additional responsibilities negatively affect their mental health.
Workload problems persist as one of the key drivers for teachers considering exiting the profession and this is most prominent in the leadership group. 29% of education staff have considered leaving to seek new roles. Without ways to address workload, attrition rates will continue to burn at unsustainable levels.
Overall Picture: A System Still Under Strain
Comparing the 2024 and 2025 Indexes, a number of key themes stand out.
There are still high numbers of education staff reporting high levels of stress, burnout and poor mental health, significantly higher than that of the general population.
Despite genuine efforts to improve workplace culture there is still much work to be done.
The extra mile that school staff go in catering for the needs of students and their families exerts a significant emotional strain, a trend that shows no sign of abating.
Leaders remain the most stressed group out of all education staff.
Those Who Can: Our Commitment
Those Who Can champions teacher talent, supports career development and promotes sustainable working lives inside and outside education. This year’s Index contains the worst overall wellbeing scores since 2019 and reinforces what we already know: improving teacher wellbeing requires system-wide commitment.
If you are experiencing challenges with your mental health or wellbeing, please contact Education Support for immediate, confidential help.
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