TEACHERS are suffering high levels of anxiety and lower levels of happiness as they are overworked and undervalued during the coronavirus pandemic, a damning report has found.

The first lockdown last March led to a decline in the wellbeing of school staff, according to the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).

There was a rise in distress and lower levels of life satisfaction among teachers at the onset of the pandemic, and their anxiety began to rise in the autumn as Covid-19 cases began to rise, the report says.

Covid-19 led to a squeeze on teacher supply as schools experienced considerably higher staff-absence rates than usual, placing extra strain on the teachers who could work.

During the autumn term, when schools were fully open to pupils, full-time teachers’ working time rose to about 46 hours per week on average — far more than the 41 hours reported by comparable full-time workers in other professions during the same period.

NFER’s report, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, monitors the progress that schools in England are making towards meeting the challenge of teacher supply.

Report co-author Jack Worth said: “Being supported and feeling valued are key for retaining teachers in the profession.

“There remains a real need to continue to improve teachers’ pay and working conditions to make it a rewarding graduate career choice, even when the wider labour market recovers.”

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “There is a real risk that we will lose more experienced teachers and school leaders post-Covid than can possibly be replaced by new recruits.

“Before the crisis hit, it was widely acknowledged that teachers and school leaders’ working hours had reached unsustainable levels. During the pandemic their working week has got longer still.”

NEU joint general secretary Dr Mary Bousted said: “The pay freeze will hit teachers hard in September 2021, when they will see their pay cut yet again in real terms.

“One in four teachers work more than 60 hours per week, and the pandemic has only made things worse.  

“This is completely unacceptable and it is one of the key reasons why one third of newly qualified teachers leave within five years.”