TEACHERS have 'had enough' and are planning to leave the profession, a union leader has said.

Cumbria's National Education Union secretary spoke out after a national survey showed nearly half of teachers were planning to quit within the next five years.

Ahead of the National Education Union's annual conference in Bournemouth this week, the NEU published data revealing that 44 per cent of teachers plan to leave the profession by 2027.

In a survey of 1,788 teachers, a fifth - 22 per cent - said they would leave within two years. Teachers said heavy workload was a significant factor in their decision to leave.

Cumbria NEU secretary Chris Brooksbank said teachers were demoralised by decreasing salaries and increasing workloads among other factors.

"I know some teachers who have had enough and just stopped," he said.

"It's the pressures. The government spin on things is very ill-informed and can be quite offensive.

"People are just saying 'I don't want to treat children like this'.

"It's a tough job and it's not easy for people to walk in to."

Some 52 per cent of respondents said their workload was 'unmanageable' or 'unmanageable most of the time', up from 35 per cent in 2021.

For those planning to leave within two years, workload was the key motivation for 65 per cent of respondents, while concerns about the level of trust in teachers from the public and Government were also a significant factor.

Teachers said schools were finding it difficult to fill vacancies, leading to a doubling up of roles, with 73 per cent reporting the issue had got worse since the start of the pandemic.

For those who had thought about stress at work, two thirds reported they were stressed at least 60 per cent of the time.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: "We recognise the pressure that staff in schools and colleges have been under and are enormously grateful to them for their efforts, resilience, and service now and throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Teaching remains an attractive and fulfilling profession. The number of teachers in our schools remains high, with more than 461,000 teachers working in schools across the country - 20,000 more than in 2010.

"We have taken and will continue to take action to improve teacher and leader workload and wellbeing, working proactively with the sector to understand the drivers behind such issues and improve our policies and interventions."