Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the inspection system in schools on the (a) mental health and (b) retention rate of teachers.

There has been no assessment of the effect of school inspection on mental health. The 2016 School Workforce Census shows teacher retention rates have remained stable for teachers over the first five years of their careers. The vast majority of teachers are not considering leaving teaching (NFER Engaging Teachers 2016).

We recognise that workload remains a concern for schools and teachers. Removing unnecessary workload for teachers is a priority for the Government, to support the retention of high quality teachers and free up teachers to do what they do best: teach. We continue our extensive work with the profession, teaching unions and Ofsted to support the retention of teachers.

The Department’s reducing teacher workload action plan, published in February 2017, sets out a comprehensive programme of action to be taken. It makes clear their commitment to dispelling myths about preparing for inspection, providing training for inspectors and monitoring inspection reports. Ofsted has also re-committed to reducing unnecessary workload around inspections.