More needs to be done to support teachers and make sure they are happy at work if there is not to be a severe shortage in the next couple of years, with many apparently planning to quit their jobs. 

According to a survey carried out by the National Union of Teachers (NUT), as many as 53 per cent of teachers in the UK are planning to quit their job within the next two years. 

Stress appears to be the common factor leading people to be unhappy at work, with many citing two main reasons for wanting to leave their positions. Some 61 per cent blame a workload that they just struggle to handle, while 57 per cent of respondents said that they were not able to get a good work/life balance at their current job. 

Nearly two-thirds of those who were surveyed also said that they feel in the last couple of years there has been a general decline in morale in the profession. Evidently, this is something that needs to be addressed across the board if the teaching industry is to retain the best teachers. 

As a result of what was found in the survey, schools minister Nick Gibb pledged to tackle excessive workloads in schools to ease the levels of stress that teachers are experiencing across the board. 

"[We] are working with the profession to understand and tackle the top issues that teachers said caused the most bureaucracy, with leading education experts taking action on key areas such as marking and lesson planning," he said.

However, general secretary of the NUT, Christine Blower, said: "This survey demonstrates the combined, negative impact of the accountability agenda on teacher workload and morale. 

"Teachers feel that the Department for Education's work thus far to tackle workload has been totally inadequate."

She also went on to say that more needs to be done to make sure that budgets are being directed towards teachers' salaries, as many feel they are not getting what they deserve when it comes to pay rises.