Education staff wellbeing drops to its lowest since 2019

Education Support, the charity dedicated to the mental health and wellbeing of teachers and education staff, has released its ninth Teacher Wellbeing Index (TWIX 2025), which reveals that staff wellbeing across the education sector is at its lowest level since 2019.

The charity is issuing an urgent call for Government action to deliver a retention strategy with staff wellbeing at its heart. Without this, the charity warns that more teachers will leave the profession, and more children and young people’s education will suffer. 

The report finds that education staff report poorer wellbeing than the general population and that their overall wellbeing score is the lowest since they began recording it in 2019.

76% of education staff report feeling stressed and 36% are at risk of probable clinical depression. 77% meanwhile experience symptoms of poor mental health due to work. 

School and college leaders remain the cohort with the highest levels of reported stress. They also report suffering from time poverty, working at very high speed and to tight deadlines, for three-quarters or more of the time:

The report also sheds light on the emotional toll of additional, often unseen responsibilities, placed on teachers and education staff. This includes providing emotional support to pupils and students (87% help them at least monthly), to providing food (57% help them at least monthly) and providing supplies for school or college (49% buy them at least monthly) in 2024-2025. The report recommends better-resourced public services are needed so education staff aren’t left filling gaps in social, emotional and practical support for young people.

Nearly half (49%) of education staff continue to report that their organisation’s culture negatively affects their mental health. This persistent trend suggests that, for many, moving to a new role in the sector carries a 50/50 chance of entering a workplace that could harm their wellbeing. 

Education Support warns that their findings should serve as a wake-up call to Government; the charity is calling for urgent, coordinated action to improve staff wellbeing with a retention strategy that protects the long-term sustainability of the education system.