Improving staff wellbeing in schools and colleges

This guide has been created by the What Works Centre for Wellbeing, the UK’s independent body for evidence policy and practice.

It is intended to guide schools and colleges in England to take action to protect and promote the health and wellbeing of staff in education settings.

Who is the guide for?

This guide has been created for all those involved in, or with responsibility for, staff wellbeing within schools or colleges in England, and those who are keen to learn more about this topic. 

The guide will also support schools and colleges to implement the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter, which commits schools, colleges and trusts to placing wellbeing and mental health at the heart of their decision making.

How to use the guide

Part one introduces the concept of wellbeing and explores what matters for wellbeing at work. 

The five drivers of workplace wellbeing are introduced and provide a framework for measuring staff wellbeing and developing an action plan. 

Part two introduces six steps to measuring staff wellbeing and preparing an action plan:

1. Getting to know your context
2. Getting to know your people
3. Analysing results and benchmarking
4. Action Planning
5. Evaluating Impact
6. Sustaining improvement

The Education Staff Wellbeing Charter

The charter commits schools and colleges to develop a long-term strategy for improving staff wellbeing across 11 areas.

This guide provides resources for five of these commitments:

• Prioritise staff mental health.
• Give managers access to the tools and resources they need to support the wellbeing of those they line manage.
• Give staff a voice in decision-making.
  Include a sub-strategy for protecting leader wellbeing and mental health.
• Hold ourselves accountable, including by measuring staff wellbeing.

Workplace wellbeing survey

Visit our dedicated resource page.

We have created a google form template that you can use to conduct your own survey.

Alternatively, a word version of the questionnaire is available to download and use.

Suggested citation

Smithson, J and Rahman, R.  Improving staff wellbeing in schools and colleges: a guide to measuring staff wellbeing and developing an action plan, April 2023, What Works Centre for Wellbeing.

Main image credit: Photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash