Teacher sickness: Worst affected schools around Mansfield as absence levels rise across England

Teacher sickness led to the loss of 3.2 million working days across schools in England in the 2021/22 academic year, a rise of 61 per cent over five years, with one union blaming “stress, overwork and burnout”.

The average teacher in England took 6.3 days off sick in 2021/22, up from 4.1 days five years before, Department for Education figures show.

More than two thirds of teachers, 68 per cent, were off sick at some point in the academic year, up from 55 per cent five years before.

In Nottinghamshire, a total of 44,552 working days were lost across the year, with 63.9 per cent of teachers taking sickness absence that year.

Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT, said the increase in both the proportion of teachers taking sick leave and the number of days taken “reflects the reality that teachers are increasingly suffering stress, overwork and burnout”.

He said: “The government has expected teachers simply to soldier on throughout the pandemic and now the cost of living crisis whilst more children are presenting with acute learning and support needs. The job of teaching is becoming impossible for teachers who are also finding themselves taking on the roles of counsellor, social worker and therapist to fill gaps left by cuts to children’s services.”

Here we reveal which schools in Mansfield and Ashfield had the greatest average number of days taken in sickness absence by teachers.