Behaviour challenges key factor in teachers leaving

Time spent dealing with pupil behaviour and providing pastoral support plays a significant role in teachers choosing to leave the profession, according to new analysis of the DfE's Working Lives of Teachers and Leaders survey by the NFER.

The research also shows teachers who report good pupil behaviour in their school and are well supported to deal with persistently disruptive behaviour, are less likely to leave. 

Data from the survey shows teachers’ and leaders’ perceptions of pupil behaviour in their school has worsened considerably since 2021/22. It also highlights a substantial rise in the number of teachers reporting that they spend ‘too much time’ dealing with behaviour incidents - from 50 per cent in 2022 to 59 per cent in 2025. 

The report by NFER, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, recommends the Government should further develop its approach for supporting schools to improve pupil behaviour and meet pupils’ additional pastoral and learning needs. This should be reinforced by improved external school support services and backed with additional funding.

A recent evaluation of the DfE’s Behaviour Hubs programme found that staff in participating schools reported improvements in pupil behaviour compared to the period before its implementation, suggesting it could be beneficial at the system level if implemented at larger scale.

Findings from the analysis also show that teachers feel they spend too much time on lesson planning. 

NFER highlights opportunities that school and trust leaders should consider to improve this challenge. For example, although recent research has presented a mixed picture, some studies suggest that generative AI tools such as ChatGPT can help improve their teachers’ planning workload. Also, access to existing schemes of work and associated lesson plans and opportunities for collaborative planning have been seen as enablers for reducing workload. 

School leadership support is also an important factor for retention. The report highlights that feeling valued, involved in school decision-making and supported with flexible working opportunities is associated with improved teacher retention. 

The report recommends that Government should put more focus on building positive, supportive leadership skills in all National Professional Qualifications (NPQ) programmes for school leaders. This could boost the relationship between teachers and leaders in the school-decision making process.  

It also urges school leaders to explore how teachers can be meaningfully involved and engaged in the way the school defines its organisational development priorities and makes decisions more widely.  

NFER Education Workforce Lead, Jack Worth, said: “Our research shows that while increasing teacher pay is one way to improve retention, there is significant scope for cost-effective policies and practice improvements that target non-financial factors affecting retention. This could include improving school leadership quality, utilising time-saving tools in planning tasks to relieve workload pressures and making dealing with disruptive pupil behaviour a top school priority. These approaches could be particularly important given the budget pressures facing schools and Government.”