Burnout & workload are reasons why teachers consider leaving

Our survey reveals that 18% of teachers at mainstream state schools are planning to leave the profession within five years for reasons other than age/retirement.

Our community told us how many more years they plan to stay in the teaching profession

Pie chart showing timeframes that teachers are considering leaving the profession. Full text available under the following heading: 'Survey methodology and full text: percentage breakdown of when teachers at mainstream state schools are planning to leave the profession'.

Read the survey methodology and text-based description of when teachers at mainstream state schools are planning to leave the profession

Survey methodology and full text: percentage breakdown of when teachers at mainstream state schools are planning to leave the profession

Our survey reveals that at mainstream state schools:

7% of teachers are planning to leave the profession in less than one year
22% of teachers are planning to leave the profession within one to five years
17% of teachers are planning to leave the profession within six to ten years
10% of teachers are planning to leave the profession within eleven to fifteen years
10% of teachers are planning to leave the profession within sixteen to twenty years
15% of teachers are planning to leave the profession in twenty-one or more years
20% of teachers don't know when they are planning to leave the profession.

Years in profession base n = 2519. all nations, mainstream secondary schools only. Weighted data. No difference by FSM, Polar, EIA. Reasons why leaving base n = 1808. State schools only. Weighted data.

Reasons for considering leaving other than age or retirement (% of respondents)

Main reasons for teachers considering leaving. Full text available under the following heading: 'Survey methodology and full text: reasons for considering leaving other than age or retirement (% of respondents)'

Read the survey methodology and text-based description covering the reasons for leaving other than age or retirement

Survey methodology and full text: reasons for considering leaving other than age or retirement (% of respondents)

Q. What are your reasons for considering leaving in the next five years (not due to age or retirement)? Base n = 384, coded from an open question. All nations, state mainstream schools. Weighted data.

Stress/exhaustion/burnout: 35%
Workload: 30%
Lack of work/life balance: 23%
Issues with management: 17%
Lack of progression opportunities: 12%
Low pay: 11%
Student behaviour: 10%
Unappreciated: 6%
Vocation: 5%
Other: 3%
Family related: 2%
Career change: 2%

I will remain in the profession probably between 1–2 years: it simply is not rewarding or respected in the UK. I do not feel like I get paid enough for what I do. I also do not feel like I have a life. It is a highly pressurised job that is often disproportionately and unfairly so.

During interviews, teachers particularly highlighted the impacts of:

‘unrealistic’ expectations around marking, particularly assessments
the amount of content that is expected to be covered
changes to content
the number of lessons per day
administrative tasks
teaching outside of their specialism

There is a lack of support. Some people in leadership positions aren’t seeing the health and wellbeing of teachers as a priority, they’re all about looking good in an inspection and on a report and not looking at the health of teachers.

Workload. When anything new comes in, trying to find new content. One example, trying to make a fuel cells lesson interesting is quite a challenge, so you’re constantly trying to find something. You’ve got to learn about it yourself, then you’ve got to find a way to teach the students, then you’ve got to try and find something that might be of interest to them, so it snowballs into the new content; there isn’t much out there to develop and use.

These negative experiences are reflected in teachers’ low levels of job satisfaction

Teachers at state mainstream schools considering leaving the profession in the next five years (for reasons other than age/retirement) recorded an average score for job satisfaction of 4.4 out of 10 versus 6.3 for all state mainstream teachers. The same respondents also reported poorer wellbeing ratings, with 3.4 out of 10 for those looking to leave vs. 5.4 for all state mainstream teachers.

During the interviews teachers revealed job satisfaction was positively affected by student achievement, enthusiasm for the subject and intellectual challenge.

Adequate staffing levels in state schools are also correlated with higher job satisfaction and well-being. High satisfaction levels are seen for teachers who reported adequate staffing in chemistry (6.5), physics (6.6) and science technicians (6.5).

A combination of a highly demanding job and low pay

During the interviews, teachers said that a combination of a highly demanding job and low pay were the most prominent factors affecting staff retention. This was reflected across nations, school types, career stages and specialisms.

The current model is based on keeping schools out of administration rather than fully supplying a functioning environment both in terms of the physical assets and infrastructure and in terms of the pay that teachers receive for a job that is more consistently demanding than those my friends have.

What we are doing

We will continue to seek to understand the reasons teachers might consider leaving the profession and provide support to teachers to aid retention.

Illustration of teacher pointing up.PNG

The Science Teaching Survey will give us a year-on-year understanding of teachers’ experiences. These insights will inform our policy campaigning and help us to represent the interests of teachers and technicians. They will also guide the development of our empowering support for teachers.

We will collect more data to understand if teachers of the sciences from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds may be more likely to leave the profession in the next five years than those who identify as White.

We provide high quality support for teachers and science technicians through Teach Chemistry. This free service for secondary schools and colleges includes access to sustained professional development courses, a well-being toolkit for science leaders and regular ideas and inspiration through Education in Chemistry magazine.

We also provide inspiration, support and resources for Primary teachers through Steps into Science.

Royal Society of Chemistry members can use our confidential wellbeing and listening service and access many other forms of support through our Chemists’ Community Fund.

Our teacher wellbeing hub includes articles and resources on maintaining good mental health and dealing with challenges in the workplace.