Scotland’s Teachers under Pressure: Burnout, Workload & What’s Being Done

Introduction

Teaching has always been a demanding job. But in Scotland in 2024‑25, the pressures on school teachers—not just to instruct, but to manage a growing set of responsibilities—are creating a crisis for mental health, wellbeing, and retention. Many teachers are working unpaid overtime, facing rising numbers of pupils with additional support needs, and witnessing a sharp rise in absences due to stress, fatigue, and related illnesses. This blog dives into what the numbers are, what’s driving the problem, how teachers are being supported (or not), and what more could be done.

The Latest Figures & Trends

Here are the key statistics that show how serious this issue has become:

Metric / Trend Recent Data / Change Mental health absence, staff & nursery/teacher days Over 1.3 million school and nursery staff working days lost to mental ill‐health between April 2018 and 2024. The Scotsman Year‑on‑year rise Mental health‑related absence rose from ~172,690 days in 2018‑19 to ~301,314 in 2023‑24—a rise of ~74%. The Scotsman Teacher absence overall In 2022‑23, Scottish teachers lost 383,063 sick days—the highest level of absences recorded since 2010‑11. Tes Workload beyond contracted hours  In a workload diary study (spring 2024) of ~1,800 teachers, the average was 46 hours in a week—about 11 hours over the contractual 35‑hour standard. University of the West of Scotland Unpaid extra hours  From a large EIS survey (June 2025), about 44% of teachers say they work at least 7 unpaid hours per week; ~11.5% work 15+ unpaid hours. The Standard+1Additional Support Needs (ASN)The number of pupils needing mental health support has increased significantly in recent years. For example, those identified with a mental health issue needing ASN rose from ~1,870 in 2014 to ~12,707 in 2024. Tes

What’s Causing the Strain

Several overlapping pressures are contributing to burnout, fatigue, and deteriorating mental health among teachers:

1. Growing complexity of pupils’ needs
   More children require support for mental health, communication or behavioural difficulties, interrupted learning, autism, etc. These needs often require more time, specialist skills, or additional staff, which are not always sufficiently available. Tes+2Tes+2

2. Workload: teaching + tasks outside the classroom
   Teachers are doing far more than just delivering classes: lesson design, marking, feedback, planning, resource creation, pastoral / emotional support, etc. Many report they cannot complete all such duties within their working week. Tes+1

3. Unpaid overtime
   A large share of teachers are putting in significant additional hours without extra pay. Not just work done at home in evenings or weekends, but ongoing unpaid workloads. The Standard+1

4. Class‑contact time & promises unmet
   Teachers and unions have flagged that pledged reductions in hours spent in front of classes (contact time) have not been delivered fast enough—or are undermined by other duties pulling them back into long hours. Tes+1

5. Behavioural challenges, violence, and school environment
   There are regular reports of an increase in verbal and physical aggression, plus pressure of behaviour management, class sizes, and safety. These increase stress, take emotional energy, and add to the burden of teachers. Tes+2The Scotsman+2

6. Support gaps & mental health services delays
   Teacher mental health needs, and pupil mental health issues, do not always receive prompt intervention. Waiting times for services, insufficient in‑school support (counselling, psychological input, additional staff), and lack of ongoing training exacerbate the problems. Tes+2The Scotsman+2

7. Culture & expectations
   There’s a sense among many teachers that the system implicitly expects them to go “above and beyond” on a regular basis: not just teaching, but supporting pupils emotionally, filling administrative gaps, covering absent colleagues, extra meetings, and keeping up with paperwork—even when that means unpaid hours, or sacrificing personal time. Tes+1

What Teachers & Unions Are Saying

Here are a few direct voices/trends from teachers and unions that help humanise the statistics:

• A 2025 EIS survey found only 17.5% of respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with current workload levels. About two‑thirds said they are dissatisfied. The Standard+1

• Teachers frequently report burnout, stress‑related illness, taking time off with anxiety or depression, often because they’re carrying unsustainable workloads. Tes

• Concerns about “moral blackmail”: expectations to take on extra work for the sake of students or school reputation, even when done at personal cost. Tes

Pull‑Quote you might use:

“These alarming figures expose the devastating toll of mental health absences across our schools and nurseries.” — Willie Rennie, Lib Dem education spokesperson. Tes+1

What’s Being Done: Supports, Policies, & Campaigns

There are a range of steps being taken to address the problem. Some are promising, others feel too small or slow compared to the scale of the challenge.

Initiative Description / Status Strengths & Limitations EIS “Stand Up for Quality Education (SU4QE)” campaign Key demands: more teachers and roles; reduce class contact; maximum class size; cut unnecessary bureaucracy; ensure teachers have more say & control in how their time is used. EIS+1Strength: unifies many of the key pressure points under one campaign; strong union buy‑in. Limitation: implementing promises (e.g. reduced contact hours) takes time and depends on funding and local authority cooperation. Tes Workload surveys & workload diaries These help document the reality (how many hours over contract, what tasks are consuming extra time) so evidence is available for negotiations and policymaking. University of the West of Scotland+1Helps highlight what's unsustainable. But data alone isn’t enough—action and resources must follow. Government / Scottish Government initiatives A few examples: a £200,000 coaching initiative to help school staff wellbeing run by Education Scotland and a social enterprise. The Scotsman Also, development of mental health & wellbeing resources, training materials (e.g. for staff to support children, early interventions). Education Scotland+1Promising to have more structured, formal support. But scale, reach, and permanence are concerns. Also, many teachers feel that these supports are “nice to have” when core issues (staff numbers, class size, paid hours) are not addressed. Professional Learning / Coaching / Support Tools Scotland has extended professional learning frameworks to include mental wellbeing, trauma‑informed approaches, coaching, etc. The “Cycle of Wellbeing” resource from Education Scotland is meant to provide schools with a way to plan wellbeing support. Education Scotland+1These are helpful for systemic change, giving schools tools and frameworks. But success depends on resourcing (time, people) and culture: whether staff are given permission & time to use them, not just more “stuff” added on.

Where Gaps Remain & What More Could Be Done

To shift from crisis to sustainable health for the teaching profession in Scotland, the following areas need more attention:

1. Faster implementation of key pledges
   Promises such as reduced class contact time, reduced class sizes, and increasing number of permanent teacher roles need to be delivered, not just planned. Delays cost wellbeing.

2. Ensure adequate funding & staffing
   Without enough teachers, support staff, mental health specialists (counsellors, psychologists), the burden remains on existing teachers. Workforce planning (at local authority level) must anticipate rising ASN needs.

3. Reform in working hours and tasks outside classroom
   Make sure tasks like marking, lesson prep, meetings, resource creation are scheduled and compensated; ensure teachers can reasonably complete their duties within working hours; remove unnecessary bureaucracy.

4. Mental health support internally

   • Ensure all school staff have access to mental health resources (counselling, coaching, peer support) not as optional extras, but as core parts of their employment.

   • Training in recognising stress, burnout, and for managing wellbeing.

5. Culture change around expectations
   Recognise that “going above and beyond” should not be normalised to the extent it harms health. Schools, councils and government should create environments where it is safe for teachers to say “I’m overworked” without stigma, and where rest and recovery are valued.

6. Monitor & publish more granular data
   More consistent, transparent data on mental health absences, broken down by local authority, by school, by type of absence, etc. This helps accountability and supports targeted action.

Why It Matters: For Teachers, Students & Scotland

• Teacher wellbeing = better education: Stressed, overworked teachers are less able to give individual attention, innovate, mentor. The quality of education suffers when those delivering it are stretched to breaking point.

• Retention & recruitment: If teachers burn out, leave the profession, or shift to part‑time work, the cost is both financial and professional: loss of experience, increased hiring/training costs, instability.

• Equity & support for vulnerable pupils: Pupils with additional support needs or experiencing trauma often need more from their teachers, emotionally and educationally. If teachers are burnt out, these pupils are likely to suffer disproportionately.

• Societal cost: Sick days, turnover, waiting times, mental health crises all cost the public sector and society more than investing earlier in prevention and wellbeing.

Conclusion & A Call to Action

Scotland’s teachers are navigating a perfect storm: rising pupil needs, growing workloads, unmet policy promises, and weak support in some areas. The data shows this is no longer a problem of individual schools or stray bad years—it’s a systemic issue.

What we need now is commitment: from national government, from councils, from school leaders, and the public, to treat teacher wellbeing as central, not peripheral. That means re‑allocating resources, following through on pledges, giving teachers the time, support, and respect they need to do their jobs well and to stay healthy.

Some immediate steps readers can support / demand:

• Press local MSPs & councils to ensure their area meets the class contact time and class size promises.

• Support teacher unions in their campaigns (e.g. SU4QE) which aim to make working conditions sustainable.

• Encourage wider awareness among parents and the public: recognising that demands placed on teachers affect everyone’s education.

• Advocate for mental health supports in schools (for both pupils and staff) to be properly funded.