Teachers across Ireland have continually stated the career is becoming harder to sustain with heavier workloads and rising expectations. The largest study of its kind ever conducted in Ireland has dug into these lived experiences, and the stark results show that teacher burnout isn’t an isolated problem or a passing phase. This is a systemic crisis, and it’s pushing experienced educators out of the profession.
The research, led by Dr Sabrina Fitzsimons, Dr Pia O’Farrell and Professor Catherine Furlong at Dublin City University’s Centre for Collaborative Research Across Teacher Education (DCU CREATE), surveyed more than 1,600 teachers in total: over 1,000 in the Republic of Ireland and more than 600 in Northern Ireland (the latter in partnership with St Mary’s University College, Belfast). Combined with earlier phases of the project, over 2,500 educators have now taken part, making this the most comprehensive study of teacher occupational wellbeing the island has seen. The findings, released in two stages, tell a consistent story on both sides of the border.
In the Republic of Ireland, 86% of teachers reported moderate to high levels of personal burnout, with 85% reporting moderate to high work-related burnout. Cross the border into Northern Ireland, and the numbers climb higher still: 91% of teachers there are experiencing moderate to high work-related burnout, with 95% pointing to workload as a driving factor.
THE NUMBERS
86% / 91% moderate-to-high burnout among teachers (ROI / NI)
95% of NI teachers cite workload as a burnout driver
59% of NI teachers cite unrealistic parental expectations
42% / 46% of teachers likely to leave the profession (ROI / NI)
28% / 32% rate their mental health as poor or very poor (ROI / NI)
The research found no strong correlation between burnout and a teacher’s age, gender, experience, or whether they have children of their own. This issue is the conditions of the job itself: unmanageable workloads, growing class sizes, under-resourcing, and the pressures of supporting pupils with special educational needs.
The researchers make the case that the findings demand a fundamental shift in how burnout is understood and addressed. It’s a message echoed across both phases of the research: burnout, the team argues, cannot be solved with wellness workshops or resilience training alone. It requires structural change in workload, resourcing, and how schools are supported to meet the needs of every pupil.
The research demonstrates the need for a comprehensive policy response to teacher occupational wellbeing. We must take the poor wellbeing of teachers seriously. It is hoped that a shift in mentality from understanding burnout as an individual issue to a systemic issue will arise from the findings of this study.
Beyond burnout, the surveys asked teachers to reflect on their own mental health over the previous year. Nearly a third of respondents in both jurisdictions with 28% in the Republic of Ireland and 32% in Northern Ireland rating their mental health as poor or very poor. Around one in six of those teachers said their mental health had negatively affected their ability to teach and engage with pupils. Furthermore, 83% of teachers in the Republic of Ireland said they had received no training on managing their own wellbeing and mental health. For a profession built on caring for others, the research suggests teachers themselves are being left without the tools or support to care for their own wellbeing.
The timing of the findings is notable as there is a new primary curriculum in rollout, incoming changes to the Senior Cycle in Ireland along with the rapid arrival of AI in classrooms. This research is particularly relevant due to the persistent concern of teacher supply, a difficult moment for a profession which traditionally has been valued in this country. Perhaps the most urgent statistic to emerge from the research is this: 42% of teachers in the Republic of Ireland say they are unlikely to remain in the profession long-term. In Northern Ireland, that figure rises to 46% who say they are likely to leave the profession specifically because of burnout.
In terms of policy impact, the research led to meetings with the Department of Education and Youth’s Teacher Supply and Strategic Workforce Planning Unit, with findings referenced in cross-party statements from Sinn Féin, The Labour Party, and Social Democrats. The research’s second phase led to similar political engagement in the North in April 2026, as the report was raised by a Sinn Féin MLA in the NI Assembly, by the Ulster Unionist Party, and by teacher union bodies.
The teams’ findings have also resonated with the wider public as the research has led to opinion pieces authored by the researchers in the Irish Examiner, the Irish Independent, RTÉ Brainstorm, and Irish News in the North. It has also been featured in news reporting by the Irish Times, the Irish Independent, the Irish Examiner, and The Journal. In addition, the researchers behind the reports have appeared on RTÉ Radio 1, Virgin Media News, Ireland AM, BBC Ulster, Today FM, and a wide range of regional radio stations, achieving extensive and sustained coverage across both phases of the project.
The research team describes this as an ongoing programme of work, one aimed squarely at identifying the causal factors behind burnout and poor mental health among teachers and school principals — and, ultimately, at improving both wellbeing and retention across the profession.
Findings from the Republic of Ireland phase were presented at education and psychology conferences in Ireland and the UK and at a DCU Teacher Occupational Wellbeing event funded by the Health Research Board (HRB) of Ireland. The researchers were invited to give the keynote speech at the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland (ASTI) Convention in April 2026. Academic publications include articles in journals such as Irish Educational Studies (IES), the European Journal of Teacher Education, and the British Educational Research Journal (BERJ), with further book chapters and research articles forthcoming.
The Northern Ireland executive summary is now available on the DCU CREATE website, with a Teacher Occupational Wellbeing event in Belfast and academic publications to follow later in this year.
With over 2,500 educators having contributed their experiences so far, the CREATE team hopes the sheer scale of the evidence will be difficult for policymakers to ignore — and that it marks the beginning, not the end, of a serious conversation about what teachers need to stay, and to thrive.
