The COVID pandemic exacerbated problems that had been simmering in the education profession across the UK. Already facing significant challenges with resources and workload, headteachers are now navigating the longer-term disruptions caused by COVID, with lasting ramifications for the profession, as well as schools and students.
Our new study found low wellbeing, depressive symptoms, high work-related stress and physical and mental exhaustion were common among headteachers during the height of the pandemic.
Even before the start of the pandemic in early 2020, teachers and headteachers had raised concerns about workload, wellbeing, recruitment and retention within the profession. In the preceding years, experts discussed the potential crisis in educational leadership as a result of the ever-changing demands on headteachers.
COVID has been described as the most significant disruption in the history of formal education by Unesco. Its data shows that more than 1.6 billion pupils and 100 million teachers globally were affected.
