An overwhelming majority of school leaders believe the government failed to support their wellbeing during the pandemic, according to a new report published today.

In a survey of 2,000 school leaders, 93 per cent felt this way - along with 89 per cent of assistant and deputy heads and 84 per cent of middle leaders questioned.

The NAHT school leaders’ union has called for urgent action to tackle a “mental health and wellbeing crisis” and warned that school leadership supply is “teetering on the brink of collapse”.

The union’s general secretary, Paul Whiteman, said the government’s “confused and chaotic” handling of the Covid response in schools “has further deepened the existing crisis in school leadership.

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The NAHT has published a new report into school leaders’ pay, workload and wellbeing today.

In it concerns about wellbeing are revealed to be the “single biggest deterrent” to school leadership, with 87 per cent of assistant and deputy heads and 86 per cent of middle leaders identifying this as a factor.

Wellbeing ‘biggest deterrent to school leadership’

The report also reveals that the more experience a teaching professional has, the less likely they are to aspire to be a headteacher. 

Just 29 per cent of middle leaders aspired to a more senior role in the future, with 36 per cent indicating that senior leadership is not their goal.

Some 53 per cent of assistant and deputy headteachers did not aspire to headship.

Dissatisfaction is also rising steeply, with the report finding that only 30 per cent of leaders would recommend school leadership as a career goal (a fall of 36 per cent in a single year).

The NAHT said the results proved that the government’s “mistreatment, disrespect and lack of support for school leaders” is contributing to school leadership supply issues

The report described the health and wellbeing of school leaders as at “crisis point”.

It found:

• Almost nine in 10 respondents (88 per cent) said their role impacted on the quality or quantity of their sleep - an increase from 83 per cent in 2020.
   
• 83 per cent reported increased worry, fear or stress about their job - an increase of more than 15 per cent over the past year
   
• 75 per cent reported that their role had a negative impact on their mental health - a rise of almost 21 per cent in a single year
   
• 59 per cent of leaders said their role had a negative impact on their physical health, compared with 46 per cent in 2020.

‘Exhausting, challenging and stressful’

The impact of workload was also a driving factor in the survey responses. In 2021, two-thirds of leaders said reducing leadership workload would make school leadership roles more attractive.

When leaders were asked to describe their experiences of their role over the past year in a single word, the top three choices were “exhausting”, “challenging” and “stressful”.  

School leaders also described their experiences as “traumatic”, “relentless”, “demoralising”, “horrific”, “draining” and “unsustainable”.

Struggling to keep up with Covid government guidance was reported by 74 per cent of leaders to have had the biggest impact on workload in the past year, while 57 per cent reported that protecting the health and safety of staff and pupils was one of the greatest sources of workload during the year.

Calls for flexible working

The report also found that delivering more flexible working options for leaders would support leadership supply, with 45 per cent of respondents saying more flexible working options would make school leadership more attractive.

Mr Whiteman said: “School leadership supply is teetering on the brink of collapse. Fewer teachers aspire to become school leaders, and aspiration to headship has plummeted.

“Experienced teachers and leaders with decades of classroom and management experience do not view headship as an attractive, viable and sustainable career choice.

“Awareness of the spiralling mental health and wellbeing crisis amongst leaders, and failure to address falling real-terms pay, has provided little financial incentive for promotion.”

Pay freeze impact

The NAHT also “urges the government to work to restore leaders’ real pay and restore the leadership pay differential by allowing the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) a proper remit to make recommendations for a professional pay structure that would support teachers and leaders throughout their careers.”

Some 83 per cent of leaders said that the pay freeze had negatively impacted on their morale, with more than 44 per cent identifying clearer pay progression for school leaders as an action that would improve the attractiveness of school leadership as a career choice.

Mr Whiteman concluded: “These findings rebut the complacent approach of the Department for Education, which has repeatedly constrained the School Teachers’ Review Body and ignored its repeated requests to review the leadership pay structure.

“We urgently need government to take the STRB’s warnings seriously and to act on them, to support the retention of experienced teachers and leaders, and to help fix the leadership supply crisis.”

Earlier this year, an NAHT survey found the supply of school leaders was “at risk of collapse”, with less than half saying they would recommend their job as a career goal.

The report also makes five recommendations to improve school leadership supply:

• Restore trust by empowering school leaders to make the decisions that best meet their learners’ needs, free from centralised diktat and control.
   
• Commit to “full engagement, proper consultation and meaningful collaboration with the profession’s representative bodies when developing policy”.
   
• Reform inspection and accountability measures to remove drivers of unnecessary workload, fear and stress.
   
• Restore leaders’ real pay, restore the leadership pay differential; and set the School Teachers’ Review Body a remit to consult with trade unions to devise a new professional pay structure to support teachers and leaders throughout their careers
   
• Value school leaders and teachers by removing the drivers of the mental health and wellbeing crisis, and providing accessible, fully funded support.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We are incredibly grateful for the efforts of teachers and school leaders over the course of the past 18 months, supporting their pupils through the challenges of the pandemic.

“We have taken a wide range of action to support leaders and ensure teacher development remains attractive and fulfilling.

“This includes launching a new mental health support scheme for school leaders, investing £250 million in training opportunities across all stages of teachers’ careers, and committing to reducing unnecessary workload.”