Primary teachers and leaders are more likely than staff in other sectors to cite inspection as a reason for leaving the profession, according to further findings from the government’s research into teachers’ and leaders’ working lives.

The DfE has published the full research report of the Working lives of teachers and leaders 2024 survey, after it released the summary version last year.

More than 10,000 teachers were polled between January and May 2024 by IFF Research and UCL Institute of Education.

The research also found that teachers were more likely than leaders to report a negative mental health impact from their work.

Here are seven findings from the DfE’s full version of the report.

1. More LGBTQ+ staff reported bullying

The proportion of teachers reporting they are experiencing bullying and harassment remains similar to 2023.

However, there was a gap between the likelihood of teachers not identifying as heterosexual reporting that they experienced bullying and harassment in the past year (18 per cent) and heterosexual teachers who reported this (10 per cent). This gap did not exist in 2023.

Primary school teachers are still more likely to rate their pupils’ behaviour as good than secondary teachers.

However, while perceptions of secondary behaviour were similar to 2023, primary teachers reporting behaviour as good or very good continued to decline, from 74 per cent in 2022 to 65 per cent in 2023, then 60 per cent in 2024.

2. LA teachers more likely to feel trusted by managers

The number of teachers and leaders who agreed that their manager trusted them to work independently remained the same (86 per cent). However, there were no significant differences between white and ethnic-minority (excluding white-minority) respondents, as there had been in 2023.

Teachers and leaders working in local authority-maintained schools were more likely than those in academies to feel that their manager trusted them to work independently (87 per cent versus 85 per cent). In 2023, there was no significant difference between the two groups.

Some 46 per cent agreed that their school provided staff with opportunities to actively participate in whole school decisions, while 36 per cent disagreed that this was the case.

3. Flexible working more common in low FSM areas

Flexible working was more common among those working in smaller and medium-sized schools, primary schools, local authority-maintained schools and areas with a lower prevalence of pupils receiving free school meals.

Those with a very high or high life satisfaction score were more likely to have a flexible working arrangement in place than those with a medium or low life satisfaction score.

4. Teachers have a worse mental health impact from work

In 2024, teachers were more likely than leaders to feel that their work negatively affected their mental health (63 per cent versus 55 per cent), whereas leaders were more likely to say their work affected their physical health (57 per cent versus 48 per cent among teachers). These differences were not observed in 2022 or 2023.

Leaders were also far more likely than teachers to agree that their manager supports their wellbeing (78 per cent versus 62 per cent), is considerate of their work-life balance (74 per cent and 61 per cent) and that their school provides access to teacher support schemes or wellbeing programmes (79 per cent and 54 per cent).

Teachers were more likely than leaders to say they did not know if their school provides access to teacher support schemes or wellbeing programmes (14 per cent, compared with 3 per cent of leaders).

5. Primary teachers more likely to leave due to inspection

Teachers and leaders in secondary schools were most likely to cite pupil behaviour as a reason for leaving: 59 per cent, against 47 per cent in primary schools and 36 per cent in special schools, pupil referral units and other alternative provision.

Teachers and leaders in primary schools, meanwhile, were more likely to cite pressure relating to pupil outcomes or inspection: 78 per cent versus 60 per cent in secondaries and 68 per cent in special schools, PRUs and other AP.

Those in special schools, PRUs and other AP were more concerned by school-level support and working arrangements: 54 per cent cited lack of support from their superiors (39 per cent overall) and 44 per cent said lack of opportunities for progression and promotion versus 35 per cent of all respondents.

6. Lower interest in subject knowledge in CPD

Teachers reported less of an interest for subject- or phase-specific knowledge or pedagogy in CPD than in 2023: 33 per cent in 2024, down from 38 per cent.

Reflections from early-career teachers on their initial teacher training remained similar to last year. However, the proportion reporting that they had been well prepared to manage poor behaviour and disruption in class fell from 54 per cent in 2022 to 47 per cent in 2024.

7. Leaders doing more admin as funding stretched

In a related report published this week, teachers and leaders generally reported workload has become even less manageable in recent years due to a range of factors, including staff shortages, poor behaviour, funding struggles, rising numbers of pupils with additional needs, more safeguarding responsibilities and increased accountability.

On behalf of the DfE, IFF Research and UCL Institute of Education interviewed 100 teachers and leaders who said their working hours were average or higher than average in the year-three wave of the Working Lives of Teachers and Leaders research.

Researchers said teachers and leaders reported working overtime and in some cases, having to accept they would not be able to complete the quality or quantity of work they wanted to to cope with their workloads. Leaders in particular said they are spending more time on school administration as funding becomes more stretched.

You can now get the UK’s most-trusted source of education news in a mobile app. Get Tes magazine on iOS and on Android