Research and analysis

Working lives of teachers and leaders wave 4: qualitative report

Findings from a follow-up qualitative study on the experiences of leavers and those considering leaving the English state school sector.

• From: Department for Education
• Published: 25 June 2026

Applies to England

Documents

Working lives of teachers and leaders wave 4: qualitative insight into the experiences of leavers

Ref: ISBN 978-1-83870-802-3, RR1620/3

PDF, 660 KB, 64 pages

Details

IFF Research and UCL Institute of Education conducted this qualitative study, on behalf of the Department for Education, in 2025.

The research explored the experiences of teachers and leaders who either:

• left the English state school sector between waves 3 and 4 of the survey
• reported that they were considering leaving the sector in the wave 4 survey

The research follows the fourth wave of the working lives of teachers and leaders survey.

Published 25 June 2026