Big Question Survey 2023

Thank you for participating in the 2023 Big Question Survey. The survey is now closed and we are working to collate the information which will be published in the 2023 Big Question Survey Report.

Big Question Survey Report 2022

We’ve pulled out some of the key findings of the 2022 Big Question survey below.

You can download the full Big Question Survey Report 2022 on the right/below or use the Big Question Survey Tool on our Explore the Data page which allows you to delve into the results in greater detail.

Key findings

Teachers are feeling under pressure, undervalued and overworked and this is having a significant impact on their view of their profession. Only 14% of respondents said they would recommend teaching as a career.

Our members are proud of the work they do and feel they are valued by their own school community, but 73% have seriously considered leaving their current job and 66% have considered leaving the teaching profession altogether because of the unremitting pressures they are facing.

Job satisfaction

Only 14% of respondents said they would recommend teaching as a career, despite:

69% saying yes to My work is valued by parents

68% saying yes to I am respected as a professional

68% saying yes to My classroom expertise is valued

Top five things that teachers like most about their job

Some of the underlying reasons for this apparent mismatch:

86% agreed that I work too hard for too little reward

63% agreed that I feel constantly evaluated and judged

57% agreed that I am held responsible for problems I have no control over

Top five concerns teachers have about their job

Pay

  • 87% reported being worried about their financial situation

  • 84% think teaching is not competitive with other professions

  • 78% believe their pay is not commensurate with their skills

Pupils

  • 96% say their pupils have mental health challenges

  • 77% believe that appropriate support is available

  • 80% reported more than a quarter of their pupils have lost ground academically over the last 12 months

Working practices

  • 69% carry out face-to-face teaching only

  • 27% use a combination of face-to-face teaching and remote teaching of some pupils, but only 2% who teach remotely have been given additional time to prepare

  • 50% agreed/strongly agreed that they are made to feel they are to blame for poor pupil behaviour

Workload

  • 59% say workload has significantly increased

  • 68% report an increase in time spent on clerical tasks, 66% on pastoral care, and 58% on data and assessment

  • 69% say that 'constant change' disempowers them professionally

CPD

  • 88% of teachers in England said that QTS is important

  • 28% think that their professional judgement is respected in their school

  • 91% believe teachers should have a contractual entitlement to CPD in working time

Health/wellbeing

  • 82% have experienced more workplace stress

  • 81% believe that the job has adversely affected their mental health

    • 83% experienced anxiety

    • 79% said they lost sleep, and

    • 52% reported adverse mental health outcomes were the result of workload

  • 61% believe the job has adversely affected their physical health

    • 73% suffered headaches because of work

    • 50% reported back pain caused by work

    • 40% experienced work-related neck pain

These detrimental impacts mean that teachers are too tired (84%), worn down (69%), and frustrated with the pressure on them and their loved ones (73%).

That’s why our members are calling for a Better Deal for Teachers.

Big Question Survey purpose

The NASUWT’s Big Question Survey is the only annual, national survey of teachers and headteachers and your responses provide a unique insight into the challenges you face throughout the year.

We are acutely aware that many of you already support the NASUWT by completing surveys, but this remains the most important one for our Union’s vital work.

With your help, we gather crucial information on the difficulties faced by teachers, students and families and their impact upon education and wellbeing.

The Big Question time series offers the only nationally available dataset that tracks trends in teachers’ and school leaders’ opinions over time by collecting the views of teachers and school leaders across the UK, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar, on a range of subjects, including:

  • pay and pensions;
  • pupil health and wellbeing;
  • pupil behaviour;
  • bureaucracy and workload;
  • teaching quality;
  • your health and wellbeing; and
  • job satisfaction.

Demonstrating the developing views of teachers and school leaders and the issues that impact their work, the survey is a unique opportunity to highlight the changing opinions of teachers and school leaders over several years.

By completing the Big Question Survey, you help to provide robust evidence for the NASUWT’s national campaigns and lobbying of governments and employers to ensure teachers receive the support they deserve.

Previous Big Question survey reports

As part of the Big Question 2021, the NASUWT worked with the Open Data Institute (ODI) to record the experience of teacher’s in response to the pandemic. You can read the report and see the data on the ODI web page Data on teachers’ lives during the pandemic.

You can download reports of previous years’ surveys on the right/below.