In order to hear from middle leaders in their own words, we collaborated with Public First to carry out a range of focus groups across an eight-week period from late February to early April 2022. Two focus groups were with middle leaders in state-run primary schools and two with middle leaders in state-run secondary schools.

Our focus group participants were recruited from the widest pool possible - normal teachers in normal schools. We wanted to give voice to those whose voices are often not heard, and to better understand how different factors relating to their leadership role can affect their mental and physical health.

It is clear from our report that while middle leaders find satisfaction in their roles, they report a high degree of physical and mental fatigue. The good news is there are some clear takeaways from this research as to how school leaders and policymakers can improve working conditions for middle leaders.

Read on for some of our key findings or download our full report below.

Key findings:

• There are many positive elements of middle leadership, and those we spoke to were generally enthusiastic about their roles and their pupils. These teachers have a passion for their subject areas and for working with children or young adults.
• There were also several recurring challenges felt by the teachers that were specific to middle leadership. Although every teacher is different, the clearest recurring themes included time pressures, burdensome bureaucracies and a lack of autonomy or reward despite extra responsibility.
• While some things have returned to normal post-pandemic, the effects of Covid-19 are still lingering. This is particularly the case with regards to managing learning loss and the increased expectations for middle leaders to always be available online.
• These combined factors led to universal agreement that many middle leaders struggle with their mental health. They have all experienced or witnessed “burnout”, prompting them to consider leaving the profession altogether.
• The middle leaders’ physical wellbeing is similarly under strain, as they demonstrate a worrying reluctance to take sick days when needed. The teachers felt various pressures to go into school if they are unwell.

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