Recent analysis has shown that nearly 14,000 teachers in England were absent due to illness on average every day last year. Data from the Department for Education (DfE) reveals that approximately 2.5 million school days were lost during the 2022-23 academic year, with over 326,000 teachers reporting sick leave. This translates to an average of about eight sick days per teacher. Over the 190 school days in the academic year, nearly 13,700 teachers were absent daily. According to DfE workforce statistics, around 66.2% of England’s teaching staff missed school due to illness, a significant rise from the pre-pandemic rate of 54.1%.
These figures suggest that post-pandemic teacher absences remain high, continuing to disrupt education, while pupil absences have also increased since COVID-19. Since in-person learning resumed, a total of 7.8 million school days have been lost due to teacher illness, based on DfE data analysed by the Taxpayers’ Alliance. When compared to the 2018-19 academic year—prior to the pandemic—an additional 461,500 teaching days were lost last year because of staff illness. Although the percentage is slightly lower than the 67.5% in 2021-22, the numbers still raise concerns.
“Improving working conditions is crucial if the Government wants to address the recruitment and retention crisis that has left schools dependent on supply staff at great cost.”
While the Government does not collect specific data on the reasons for teacher absences, experts cite rising stress levels and declining mental health as major contributing factors. In some secondary schools, as many as 166 teachers took sick leave at some point during the 2022-23 school year.
A spokesperson for the DfE stated: “Teachers play a vital role in shaping children’s futures, and this government is committed to making teaching a valued and attractive profession again. While daily absences represent a small portion of the almost half a million teachers in the workforce, we are focused on improving teacher support.”