A good salary attracts teachers, but it won’t keep them if their day-to-day experience at school feels draining. According to Education Support’s Teacher Wellbeing Index, 29% of teachers have thought about leaving because of wellbeing pressures. Pay alone doesn’t explain that number.
So, what happens when schools raise salaries but leave workloads and support unchanged? Teachers may still feel overwhelmed if they don’t have enough time, resources, or support to do their jobs well.
In this article, we cover how school culture, workload, wellbeing and career development all play a part in teacher retention.
How School Culture and School Leaders Influence Teacher Retention
School culture and leadership set the tone for whether teachers stay or start looking elsewhere. The Teacher Wellbeing Index 2025 found that 49% of education staff say their organisation’s culture has a negative effect on their mental health.
Here’s what a supportive culture looks like in practice, and how school leaders can build one.
What Does a Positive School Culture Look Like for Teaching Staff?
Most schools have their values printed in a prospectus or displayed on a wall. But teachers experience workplace culture through everyday actions, not posters. They notice how leaders respond to heavy workloads and how well leaders address staff concerns before someone decides to leave.
These daily experiences can reveal what a school’s culture is really like. So school leaders should ask themselves a few questions:
- Do colleagues share planning resources openly, or does everyone start from scratch?
- Are teachers trusted to make professional decisions without being second-guessed?
- When new tasks are added, such as data tracking, does the school remove less useful work to create time?
At OTJR Online, we’ve placed teachers across London since 2006, and we’ve found that a ”positive culture” comes down to practical steps, rather than abstract ideas. It shows up in small moments, like a line manager adjusting a deadline after an honest conversation.
How School Leaders and Senior Leaders Shape Teacher Retention
Senior leaders have a major effect on how supported teachers feel at work. When leaders are under pressure themselves, that stress can affect how they support and manage their teams.
For teachers, good leadership often shows through everyday actions. Leaders can listen to concerns before they become reasons to leave, using regular one-to-ones or quick check-ins after a difficult week. Clear communication is important too. Teachers need to understand what is expected of them and where they stand.
This focus on support is important when workload is a major reason teachers leave. The National Audit Office noted that workload and wellbeing are the reasons teachers most commonly give for leaving the state sector.
That said, supportive leadership doesn’t mean lowering standards. Schools can keep high expectations while giving teachers the support they need to meet them. Plus, creating a workplace where staff can talk openly about wellbeing can make it easier to ask for help.
Why Staff Wellbeing Initiatives Need to Reduce Teacher Workload
Wellbeing programmes can feel pointless when the main causes of stress stay the same. A yoga session after school won’t help much if a teacher spends the weekend marking 120 exercise books (because there wasn’t enough time during the week).
The need for practical support is clear. The Teacher Wellbeing Index 2025 reported that 77% of all staff experienced symptoms of poor mental health because of their work. That number won’t change until wellbeing efforts address what actually drains people.
Schools can start addressing this by removing repeated data entry and protecting planning time from last-minute meetings. They should also use whole-class feedback instead of individual written comments to reduce marking time while still giving students useful feedback.
We’ve seen how small changes can improve daily working conditions. When teachers feel the benefits during their normal workday, wellbeing support becomes more meaningful, and retention can improve.
How Teacher Wellbeing, Mentoring and Education Careers Improve Retention
Teachers stay when the job feels sustainable, rather than just when the pay is fair. Wellbeing, mentoring and career progression each give teaching staff a practical reason to commit long-term. This is how each one works in practice.
Why Teacher Wellbeing Is a Foundation for Long-Term Teacher Retention
Most teachers don’t leave after one bad term. The bigger question is often, “Can I see myself doing this for another five years?” When the answer starts to change, schools risk losing good teachers.
That decision usually comes from ongoing pressure rather than one difficult week. Heavy workloads, challenging pupil behaviour, limited planning time, and little emotional support can build up over months. Even teachers who enjoy their work can feel worn down when these pressures continue.
This is an important point for schools to recognise. Teachers can care deeply about their pupils while still feeling that their working conditions aren’t sustainable. Good wellbeing strategies should improve those conditions, rather than simply help teachers cope with them.
Why Mentoring in the Early Years of Teaching Supports Teacher Retention
The first few years of teaching are when schools often lose the most staff. The DfE (Department for Education) data shows that 30% to 33% of teachers leave within their first five years.
That makes strong support during this period especially important. A good mentor can offer practical classroom advice, reassurance after a difficult lesson, and someone to talk to when things feel tough.
However, mentoring shouldn’t stop once teachers gain experience, as experienced staff face new challenges too. They may take on leadership roles, teach new subjects, or manage changing workloads. Peer coaching, shared planning, and regular support can help them handle these changes and stay engaged in their work.
How Career Development Makes Education Careers More Sustainable
Without a clear path forward, experienced teachers can start to feel like their work has become repetitive and offers few new challenges. Professional development gives them new goals and ways to keep growing in their careers. A few areas can help keep experienced teachers engaged:
- Specialist Qualifications: A subject-specific course or SEN certification can open up new directions without pulling a teacher away from the classroom.
- Leadership Pathways: Some teachers find new motivation through subject leadership, pastoral coordination or mentoring colleagues, all of which build on what they already do well.
- Classroom Autonomy: When experienced teachers have the freedom to change how they plan and deliver lessons, the role feels less like following instructions and more like practising a craft.
Now, progression doesn’t always mean moving into management. Some teachers want to become better practitioners rather than leave the classroom behind. Recognising that kind of growth is necessary for retention, because people want their contribution noticed.
Consistent teachers also build stronger relationships with pupils and families and carry institutional knowledge that new staff can’t replace overnight.
Teacher Pay vs School Culture: What Really Keeps Teachers in Post?
Of course, fair pay will always be important. After all, no wellbeing strategy will keep a teacher who can’t afford to live near their school.
But a higher salary on its own won’t fix poor leadership, unmanageable workload or professional isolation. Pay affects what teachers earn, while working conditions shape what their daily experience is like.
So the most effective retention strategy is to treat pay and culture as connected rather than competing. Schools can combine fair compensation with supportive leadership and manageable workloads. Strong mentoring and clear career pathways can then give teachers more reasons to stay long-term.
Improve Teacher Retention Through Better School Culture and Staff Wellbeing
Experienced teaching staff carry knowledge, relationships and continuity that benefit pupils and the wider school community. When teacher retention improves, everyone notices the difference, from colleagues to families.
If you’re weighing up education careers, salary is worth asking about, but it shouldn’t be the only question. Think about how teaching staff are supported day to day, what development opportunities exist and how senior leaders respond when workload becomes a concern. Staff turnover can also tell you a lot about the school culture before you ever walk through the door.
In the end, the question worth sitting with is: Can you see yourself building a long-term career at this school?
If you’re looking for a role where staff wellbeing and teacher wellbeing are taken seriously, we’d love to help you find it.