Across education systems worldwide, teaching remains a profession defined by purpose. Teachers continue to show deep commitment to their students, pride in their work, and belief in the value of education. Yet behind this commitment sits a growing contradiction. The work that teachers care about is increasingly being sustained through personal sacrifice rather than sustainable conditions.
A new report published by TES has revealed an alarming picture of a profession stretched beyond its limits – not by a single crisis, but by the steady accumulation of pressure over time.
Between 26 November and 7 December 2025, TES surveyed more than 2,800 school staff across 196 countries as part of its Teacher Wellbeing Report 2026. Respondents included teachers, trainee teachers, teaching assistants, supply teachers, SENCOs, DSLs, and school leaders, representing institutions of all sizes.
The survey revealed that teachers are being stretched beyond capacity, with excessive workloads, rising behaviour and inclusion pressures, limited flexibility, and career pathways that increasingly clash with wellbeing and family life.
The ‘standard work week’ is a myth
Half (50%) of those surveyed said they don’t plan on staying in teaching long term, with 58% pointing to student behaviour as a major source of stress.
Workload was identified as the biggest cause of stress by 73% of respondents with 63% reporting that they worked 6 or more hours beyond their contract per week. Just 4% of respondents report being able to work within their contracted hours.
Jonathan Joffe, Managing Director of Tes Australia, said that last statistic is “a stark confirmation” of how widespread out-of-hours work has become.
“Teachers remain deeply committed to their students and the purpose of their profession, but that dedication is increasingly masking the day-to-day strain they are under,” Joffe told The Educator.
“The survey makes clear that the idea of a standard working week in teaching has effectively become a myth.”
At the extreme end, 14% of respondents report working at least 69 hours per week, far exceeding recognised thresholds for safe and sustainable work, including those set out by the Fair Work Act 2009.
When time is insufficient, pressure intensifies across every aspect of the role, said Joffe.
“Work spills beyond contracted hours, behaviour issues take longer to manage and generate additional administrative burden, and inclusion demands grow without the capacity to meet them effectively,” he said.
“Parent engagement often adds to workload rather than being meaningfully integrated. Meanwhile, professional development and career progression are squeezed out—not due to a lack of ambition, but because of sheer exhaustion.”
Time poverty at the heart of the workload crisis
Across every chapter of the report, time emerged as the scarcest and most contested resource, with large workloads cited as a major contributor. When asked what is driving the trend of larger workloads in schools around the world, Joffe pointed to a widening gap between expectations and the systems meant to support them.
“Demands on schools continue to grow, but the time required to meet them effectively has not kept pace. Teachers and leaders are expected to plan, respond, support students, engage with families, and develop professionally—yet lack the time to do any of these well,” he said.
“At the same time, disconnected data systems across education are slowing decision-making for both school leaders and teachers.”
Joffe said this fragmentation means issues often surface too late, emerging risks go unnoticed, and support for individual students is delayed.
“By better connecting technology and data, schools can unlock earlier intervention, more informed decision-making, and greater efficiency—ultimately saving staff time while improving outcomes for students.”
Fixing systems, not teachers, key to change
While the situation looks bleak, a silver lining identified in the TES report was that governments are increasingly rolling out new initiatives to address the pressures facing school staff.
“The most meaningful long-term impact will come from reducing structural workload pressures,” Joffe said. “That means designing policies that actively remove unnecessary tasks, streamline accountability processes, and ensure any new requirement is matched with time and resources.”
Joffe said that when data, communication, and administrative processes are aligned, schools can operate more efficiently, allowing teachers and leaders to focus on teaching and student support rather than duplication and manual work.
“Equally important is building sustainable workforce models. This includes protected time for planning, collaboration, and professional development, alongside realistic expectations of what can be achieved within contracted hours,” he said.
“Long-term change will only happen when systems are designed around human capacity rather than relying on goodwill.”
Even committed teachers won’t stay in an unsustainable role
Joffe said there is an important lesson that schools and policymakers should take from the TES report.
“When only 4% of teachers are working within their contracted hours, workload pressure can no longer be framed as an issue of individual efficiency or time management,” he said.
“School leaders play a critical role in shaping how work is resourced, prioritised, and supported at a local level—and in influencing the tools and systems that drive efficiency.”
Looking ahead, Joffe cautioned that the long-term risks are mounting.
“When sustained overwork becomes normalised, even highly committed teachers begin to disengage or leave—not because they no longer care, but because the role has become unsustainable.”