School Leaders’ mental health crisis

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) annual survey lays bare the escalating mental health toll on school leaders, intensifying the challenges in the already strained educational landscape

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on NAHT

The findings expose the profound impact of workload, inspection, and accountability on the personal well-being of school leaders, emerging as a significant driver of attrition and dissuasion for aspiring heads.

This year, almost one in two (49%) school leaders in England said they identified that they had a need for professional mental health or well-being support. Over a third (38%) had accessed support, while 7% did not know how to secure it and 5% found access to be unavailable. Leaders said Ofsted pressures were the factor that had the greatest impact on their mental health over the last year.

The Crisis Point report records rising discontent: 57% of school leaders would not recommend leadership as a career choice and 61% said their work satisfaction had declined over the last twelve months. Approaching two-thirds (61%) of assistant and deputy heads said they do not aspire to headship, an increase of more than half since 2016 (40%).

NAHT members said that the government should demonstrate greater recognition of school leaders as professionals, ensure that pay properly reflects leaders’ responsibilities and keeps pace with inflation, introduce lower stakes accountability measures, and reduce leadership workload, to improve the attractiveness of leadership.

NAHT is pressing for fundamental, system level reform of inspection; recognition, value and empowerment of leaders; investment in, and reform of, the leadership pay structure, and for workload evaluation and reduction to inform every policy development, alongside a commitment to engage, consult and meaningfully collaborate with the profession.

The pressing need for recognition, recalibration of pay structures, and a comprehensive re-evaluation of accountability and workload is not merely a plea for change; it is a rallying cry for a more sustainable and supportive educational ecosystem.