Teachers and leaders reported working fewer weekly hours this year than they have since 2022, while wellbeing has improved across the board, a new survey has shown.
But while there has been progress, National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede warned “nothing meaningful has changed” and warned workload “is the real crisis”. affecting the workforce.
More than 10,800 teachers and leaders have taken part in this year’s Working Lives of Teachers and Leaders survey, carried out for government by IFF Research and UCL Institute of Education.
Here are the key findings from the summary report, out today:
1. Wellbeing improves…
All measures of overall teacher and leader wellbeing have improved for 2025, compared with all previous waves of the annual study, which began in 2022.
The average life satisfaction score for teachers and leaders increased compared with all previous waves, as did the average happiness score, and the score they gave to feeling things done in their life are worthwhile. The average anxiety score also decreased.
But researchers noted these wellbeing measures remain lower for the sample than for the wider population.
\In 2025, 86 per cent of teachers and leaders said they experience stress as work – down from 89 per cent last year. Meanwhile 64 per cent said their job “does not leave me enough time for my personal life” – down from 70 per cent last year.
NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede blasted the figures, saying: “Eight in ten teachers continue to experience stress at work, and nearly two-thirds say the job leaves them no time for a personal life.
“Their mental and physical health is being sacrificed to a system that refuses to change. This is why 29 per cent of the workforce is considering leaving within a year and why so many actually do.”
2. … and workforce happier with pay
This year, 38 per cent of teachers and leaders agreed that they were satisfied with the salary they received for the work that they did – up from 30 per cent last year, and an increase compared to all previous waves.
Around half (49 per cent) said they were not satisfied, though this was lower than all previous waves, and down from 58 per cent in 2024.
3. Teacher working hours fall (but remain very high)
This year, teachers reported lower working hours than in all previous waves.
Average hours worked per week for full-time teachers this year was 50.1, down from 51.2 last year.
Full-time primary teachers worked 51.4 hours a week on average in 2025, compared to 52.5 hours in 2024. Secondary teachers worked on average 49.3 hours compared to 50.3.
Meanwhile full-time leaders averaged 56.5 hours a week – lower than 57.6 in 2024, 58.2 in 2023, and 57.5 in 2022.
Full-time leaders in secondary schools worked 57.3 hours a week on average, compared to 58.3 last year. Primary leaders worked 56.5 compared to 57.5 hours last year.
4. Workloads also more manageable
The proportion of teachers and leaders who felt their workload was not acceptable and that they did not have sufficient control over it remained high, at 43 per cent.
But this marked a drop from 49 per cent last year, and a high of 57 per cent in 2022.
Meanwhile a higher proportion of teachers and leaders felt their workload was acceptable – 26 per cent compared to 22 per cent last year, and 17 per cent in 2022 and 2023.
But Kebede said teachers and leaders “continue to be overwhelmed by unmanageable workload and long working hours”.
“Any improvements in 2025 are minor and unlikely to make a significant difference,” he said. “Full-time teachers still work over 50 hours a week, and full-time leaders work over 56 hours. Only one in four believes their workload is acceptable. This is a national disgrace.”
5. … but a third want to leave within a year
Around three-in-ten (29%) teachers and leaders indicated they were considering leaving the English state school sector in the next 12 months, for reasons other than retirement.
This was lower than the 34 per cent and 36 per cent seen in 2024 and 2023 respectively, but higher than the 25 per cent seen in 2022.
Kebede said the figures show the retention crisis “is not improving – it is entrenched”.
As with previous cohorts, the top three most common reasons cited for those leaving the sector were high workload, stress, poor wellbeing, and teachers’ views not being valued by policymakers.
6. Flexible working rises
Meanwhile around half of teachers and leaders (51 per cent) said they had a flexible working arrangement in place this year. This marks an increase on all previous years (46 in 2024 and 2023, 40 per cent in 2022).
Part-time working remained the most common arrangement, at 22 per cent, but the prevalence of other arrangements have increased since last year.
Among them is PPA time off-site, which has risen from 15 per cent in 2024, to 19 per cent. Home or remote working rose from 4 per cent last year to 6 per cent this year.
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