A survey by a teaching union shows that 51% of teachers in the South West are planning on quitting within the next five years.

The National Education Union conducted a survey earlier this year where they asked teachers and people working in education where they saw themselves in the next five years.

They found that over 44% of teachers nationwide are planning on quitting their jobs within the next five years. This number increased to 51% in the South West.

Only 14% of the teachers in the South West could see themselves working the same role they have now in five years.

24% of people in the South West who said they would quit within the next five years said it was for retirement purposes.

35% said they wouldn't work in education anymore in five years, whereas others would look for different jobs within the education sector.

The reason so many are planning on leaving their teaching jobs was mainly because of the workload, with 61% of teachers in the South West arguing this was one of their main reasons for wanting to quit.

Past surveys, including the Government’s own, typically place working hours at around 50 hours per week. This is above the OECD average of 41 hours. 

Just 1% of respondents said that they didn't need any changes to make their workload more manageable.

Commenting on the findings of the survey, Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said: "It is high time that the government reflected on the failure of successive education secretaries to get a grip on the issues facing teachers. 

"We remain a profession with amongst the highest number of unpaid working hours, and we are still well above the international average for hours worked by teachers.

"This is simply unsustainable and can only lead to burn-out."

Dr Bousted continued to say that the government needs to do more to help support people working in education.

"The Department for Education must take steps to right the ship, which is currently shedding too many staff and not finding enough to replace them. This is to a very large extent because the job is made unattractive and unsustainable.

"Teaching is a great and fulfilling job, and people go into the profession because they want to make a difference.

She argues that if they want to do the right thing for young people then the teachers must be able to deliver the education they deserve, and Dr Bousted thinks this change must come from the government.

1,788 responses from English state-school teachers were provided in this study with 374 of these responses being from teachers in the South West.