Ministers must provide better support for headteachers to “shore up sustainable leadership”, experts said, after a report revealed their work-related anxiety more than doubled at the peak of the pandemic.
UCL’s Institute of Education (IOE) researchers also said their study revealed “shocking” differences in anxiety between leaders and classroom teachers that exposed the “additional strain” on heads.
A survey of more than 13,000 teachers and heads shows little difference in the anxiety levels of both during the run up to pandemic, between October 2019 and February 2020.
One in four (25 per cent) of headteachers were “highly anxious” about work, while the level for teachers was 20 per cent.
