NEARLY three in four teachers have considered leaving the profession because of burnout, according to a survey published today.

Teaching union NASUWT said seven in 10 (70 per cent) of its members had reported that stress at work affected their teaching, with 34 per cent saying the impact was significant and severe.

The survey comes as the National Education Union (NEU) is conducting an indicative ballot for strike action over high workloads, school funding and pay.

On top of the 74 per cent of teaching staff citing burnout as a potential reason to leave the profession altogether, a further 63 per cent feel guilty that stress has affected the quality of education students are receiving.

The study, which included responses from 1,000 secondary school teachers from the state and independent sectors, was published ahead of the NASUWT annual conference in Birmingham this weekend.

General secretary Matt Wrack demanded changes to accountability measures, as well as improvements in the wider service to help take pressure off school staff.

Mr Wrack said: “Teachers are striving to do the best for their pupils but are being hampered by excessive workloads and growing pastoral responsibilities, which are driving up levels of chronic stress and burnout.

“This is driving an unsustainable hamster wheel in which exhausted teachers feel they cannot deliver the quality of lessons they aspire to, leading to feelings of guilt which push them to work harder to meet the impossible demands being expected of them, which then only leads to further stress and fatigue.”

The union also found that 45 per cent of respondents described themselves as “bad teachers” when faced with episodes of burnout.

The government has promised to recruit 6,500 more teachers by the end of this parliament.