More than seven in ten teachers suffer depression and anxiety during Ofsted inspections as impact of visits on mental health is laid bare after headteacher Ruth Perry’s death

• Over 70 per cent of 3,000 teachers blamed inspections for mental health issues  

More than seven in ten teachers suffer with mental health issues such as anxiety and depression when their schools are inspected by education watchdog Ofsted, according to new research. 

A survey by Education Support, a charity which offers people in the profession therapy, showed that 71 per cent of those who took part in the questionnaire blamed the pressure of an inspection on poor mental health. 

More than 3,000 teaching staff who had undergone school inspections took part in the survey.  

It comes as an inquest into the death of head teacher Ruth Perry continues at Berkshire Coroner’s Office in Reading. 

Ms Perry’s family claim that the 53-year-old took her own life in January after her school, Caversham Primary School in Reading, was downgraded from its highest rating to its lowest over safeguarding concerns.

The school has since been rated as outstanding. 

Ruth Perry’s family claim that the 53-year-old took her own life in January after her school was downgraded from its highest rating to its lowest over safeguarding concerns

Her death has sparked widespread calls from school leaders for the watchdog to overhaul its school rating system

Caversham Primary School (pictured) has since been rated as outstanding

Earlier this week, her GP, Dr Tom Beck, told the inquest that she took her own life because she feared her family would be in financial ruin if she lost her job as she was ‘main breadwinner’. 

READ MORE: Headteachers struggling to sleep due to stress of Ofsted visits is ‘usual’, Ruth Perry inquest hears

He told the inquest she was left ‘completely devastated’ after the Ofsted inspection in November – after which she contacted him as well as local mental health services.

Ms Perry’s sister, Professor Julia Waters, previously said the headteacher had experienced the ‘worst day of her life’ after inspectors reviewed the school on November 15 and 16 last year.

It came on the same day that Ms Perry’s husband told the inquest that she had ‘dark thoughts’ about ending her own life after the Ofsted inspection.

Ofsted has said that it is ‘extremely saddened’ by the mother-of-twos death.  

Her death has sparked widespread calls from school leaders for the watchdog to overhaul its school rating system.

Primary teacher Lee Parkinson told the Mirror that he wants Ofsted to be reformed so that stress to staff is minimised. 

‘The system we work under, because of Ofsted, has made the profession completely unsustainable’, he told the newspaper. ‘I speak to colleagues on a daily basis who are on the brink of collapse’. 

He is campaigning for Ofsted to abolish the scoring system, which rates schools from ‘outstanding’ to ‘inadequate’.  

‘We can’t stop holding schools accountable, but it can be done in a more supportive, positive way that doesn’t impact mental health’, he said. 

Ruth Perry’s death sparked an outpouring of emotion from the local community (two women pictured with signs in March)

People attend a vigil for Ruth Perry outside the offices of Ofsted in Victoria, central London in March

According to the Mirror, one teacher, who was not named, said staff were ‘sick in toilets, cried and nearly passed out’ during a recent inspection. 

Another told the newspaper they have a ‘nervous breakdown’ following an inspection, leading them to take antidepressants and reduce their hours to part time. 

A spokesperson for the Department for Education told the Mirror:  ‘We recognise the importance of the service that headteachers, teachers and other school staff provide. 

‘We have doubled our wellbeing support for teachers and are investing over £1.1 million to provide supervision and counselling to school and college leaders and nearly 1,000 have benefitted so far, and this will be expanded beyond March 2024.’

For help, call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org  

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