More than a million days of teaching have been lost due to days of mental illness in the last two years, the Daily Mail can reveal.
In the last academic year, the figure stood at 535,970 days, representing around 20 percent of all absences due to health reasons.
Some 487,986 days were lost to mental health illness days in 2022/23, according to an analysis of council data by the TaxPayers’ Alliance.
It comes amid concerns that schools are falling prey to a “sick note” culture that is disrupting the education of children, particularly those from the most disadvantaged communities.
The data revealed that nearly 20,000 teachers called in sick for at least one day last year citing mental health problems.
Just over 18,500 did so in 2022/23. Last year, teachers absent due to mental health issues were absent for an average of 26 days.
The data revealed that nearly 14,000 teachers called in sick every day, equivalent to around 2.5 million school days lost due to illness.
In the last two years, almost five million school days were lost due to health problems.
In the last two years, more than one million days of instruction have been lost due to days of mental illness. Image: Stock Image
Some 487,986 days were lost to mental health illness days in 2022/23, according to an analysis of council data by the TaxPayers’ Alliance. Image: Stock Image
Leeds had the highest number of teachers taking sick leave for mental health reasons: 2,525 teachers took time off in the last two academic years, costing more than 53,618 teaching days. This represents 5 per cent of the total figure in Britain.
Hertfordshire County Council saw 1,492 teachers take at least one sick day for their mental health.
Full-time teachers take an average of 32 more days of vacation each year than office workers, meaning their absences account for a greater proportion of lost work.
Professor Len Shackleton, editorial writer and researcher at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: “The increase in time off work year on year reflects a decline in resilience and willingness to exploit permissive work environments.”
“It does not benefit the students and increases costs, since substitute teachers have to be hired.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: ‘Wherever possible, this Government wants teachers at the front of classrooms.
‘The Education Staff Wellbeing Charter was developed in collaboration with the sector and mental health experts to improve staff wellbeing.
“The government is committed to working with teachers as partners in the fight for improvement, so we can break down barriers to opportunity for all children.”
The Department of Education does not record the reasons for teacher absences.