I was heartened at the recent CST Annual Conference, when I heard Leora call on trusts to create cultures in which your people can flourish. It’s clear there is a lot of good work going on in the sector to create cultures that support staff wellbeing and retention, but it’s still an inconsistent picture.
In our 2024 Teacher Wellbeing Index, 50% of staff told us they consider their organisation’s culture has a negative effect on their wellbeing. On top of this, the workforce has a wellbeing score that’s consistently lower than the average population, with one in three education staff at risk of probable clinical depression. The persistence of poor wellbeing should alarm anyone who is serious about education.
It’s hard to imagine how an educator who is at risk of clinical depression is able to deliver their best and most inspiring lessons for their pupils. This is why we look at school cultures, and issues like staff attrition, through the lens of workplace wellbeing. School cultures informed by good workplace wellbeing practices not only retain their staff, but deliver better education for children and young people.
Our Commission on Teacher Retention (2023) made three recommendations for employers: that leaders undertake an annual review of workload practices, and ensure flexibility in how and where PPA can be done, also that friction is removed from the process for moving a teacher from a full-time to part-time contract.
We have spoken to many school and trust leaders, and done a huge amount of research since then, so our thinking has evolved. Our more recent paper Revisiting the teacher retention crisis: recommendations for change illustrates an expanded range of suggestions for employers to consider, when thinking about how to improve retention within trusts or schools. We’ve also reframed the challenge of teacher retention as a wellbeing issue, using De Neve and Ward’s (2025) model of workplace wellbeing.
De Neve and Ward’s work outline twelve drivers of good workplace wellbeing. Get these drivers right, they say, and it’ll lead to positive wellbeing, which in turn affects workforce productivity, recruitment, retention and organisational performance. This approach is backed by a significant amount of research. It shows that by taking an explicit focus on evidence-based workplace wellbeing strategies we can make a meaningful impact on teacher retention across the education system.
These twelve drivers also informed our Independent wellbeing impact assessment of the revised Ofsted framework conducted in July.
We do not imagine that all of these ideas will be relevant to all settings. The specificity of the wellbeing drivers, and the evidence of their value for positive outcomes, create a compelling reason to consider them individually within a specific school or trust setting. We would strongly encourage employers to consider all twelve of the wellbeing drivers, over time, and to identify incremental improvements that can be made in their own specific settings. Positive improvements can be achieved quickly and can build momentum for positive culture change.
Learn more about this approach and the actions we recommend both Government and employers take to improve retention, by exploring Revisiting the Teacher Retention Crisis: Recommendations for Change. It includes a summary of De Neve and Ward’s twelve workplace wellbeing drivers, along with our specific recommendations for employers.
I very much look forward addressing the CST People & Culture Conference and hope to meet some of you and discuss these ideas further.
An unwell teaching workforce cannot deliver the best outcomes for children and young people. Quality of education is inseparable from the wellbeing of those who provide it. If we want every child to thrive, we must ensure that those who teach and support them are thriving too. I look forward to working with you to help give children and young people the opportunities they deserve.
- Sinéad McBrearty is Chief Executive of Education Support. She is a keynote speaker at CST's People and Culture Conference in Birmingham on 11 November 2025.
We welcome perspectives from a diverse range of guest contributors. The opinions expressed in blogs are the views of the author(s), and should not be read as CST guidance or CST’s position.
