As if more proof were needed that mental health issues in schools are a serious problem for young people in education, it seems that their teachers’ poor mental health adversely affects how well students do in school.

A 2018 Dutch report describes a world where one in five teachers experiences burnout symptoms, where teacher’s workload exceeds that of other professionals and where teachers new to the profession are especially likely to suffer stress. They show that such pressures on teachers are actually detrimental to the level of their students’ achievement – ironic, when we consider that the stress heaped on teachers by themselves and their leadership teams is all in the name of raising their students’ life chances.

Not nearly enough is said or done about the issue of teacher stress and burnout, apart from a bit of light breast-beating and head-shaking accompanied by zero action. The whole system needs rethinking. Starting with league tables, the root cause of all of this pressure.