Nearly all teachers affected by stress, union's poll finds

Stress is taking an "immense toll" on the lives of teachers in England, with only 1.5% of those working in schools unaffected by the high levels of strain that plague their colleagues.

- Richard Adams

The findings from research by the National Education Union (NEU) reveal that one in three state school teachers in England are stressed at work for at least four-fifths of the time, while only a tiny fraction say they are never overstretched.

The research is published as NEU members gather in Harrogate this week for the union's annual conference, and are expected to debate taking industrial action over pay and working conditions.

A majority of the 14,000 teachers surveyed said they regularly had to work in the evenings and on weekends to catch up, and a third said they "frequently cancel plans with family and friends" to get on top of their workload.