School inspections and headteachers' mental health.

Abstract

Media attention has highlighted the risk of suicides among headteachers whose schools were downgraded by school inspectors. The authors emphasize the wider problem of mental ill-health among teachers. They argue that more should be done to protect and promote teachers’ mental health—starting with job-specific stress risk assessments. They also argue for a comprehensive review to understand and address the broad factors that place teachers and headteachers at increased risk of mental ill-health.