For teachers, TAs & school leaders
Free Teacher Burnout Quiz — Am I a Burnt-Out Teacher?
Teacher burnout is one of the most well-documented occupational burnouts in the research — and one of the most under-supported. The combination of emotional labour with children, workload creep beyond contracted hours, and the specific depletion of being 'on' for six hours a day produces a pattern that general job-burnout advice doesn't quite fit.
This free 2-minute quiz uses the clinical Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) engine, framed for classroom teaching. You'll get a score across the four pillars, your likely stage, and clear next steps.
Signs this quiz picks up
Sunday-night dread that starts Friday evening
The teacher-specific version of workplace dread. The weekend never quite starts because Monday's lessons, marking, or a difficult class is already sitting behind everything.
Emotional depletion after teaching, not just tiredness
You come home not just tired but hollowed out — nothing left for family, partner, or your own evening. Emotional strain is one of the four BAT pillars, and teachers score particularly high on it.
Cynicism about students you used to enjoy
Individual students, classes, or year groups start to irritate you in a way that feels unlike you. Mental distance is the pillar that's hardest to admit — because in teaching it feels like the wrong feeling to have.
Cognitive strain — forgetting names, losing your place mid-lesson
Not a competence issue. When the nervous system is chronically over-drawn, working memory is one of the first casualties.
Holidays no longer reset you
First week of the summer holiday feels like a crash rather than a lift, and by the end you're already dreading September. When breaks stop restoring, the underlying load has outpaced your recovery capacity.
Frequently asked
How common is burnout in teaching?+
Very. UK and international studies routinely put teacher burnout rates above most other professions — commonly cited around 20–30% experiencing high symptoms in any given term. The profession combines high emotional labour with high workload and low control, which is the classic burnout trio.
Is teacher burnout the same as job burnout?+
It's a specific case of job burnout with a distinctive profile: emotional strain and cognitive strain tend to be higher, and recovery is more dependent on the school calendar than any other profession. The underlying BAT model applies.
Should I take this in term time or a holiday?+
Whichever fits, but be aware the answers will differ. Some teachers score dramatically better in the first week of a holiday and dramatically worse in week five of term. If you're not sure, take it now and again in three weeks.
What should I do if I score high risk?+
Please book a GP appointment this week and, if you can, speak to a therapist. Also consider what one workload item you can drop for the next two weeks — 'nothing' is a common but wrong answer. High-risk teacher burnout responds well to support but rarely improves on its own.
Should I tell my head of department or SLT?+
Often yes, framed in terms of workload and sustainability rather than diagnosis. Education Support (educationsupport.org.uk) is a UK charity with a free confidential helpline for teachers if that feels like a safer first conversation.
Other burnout quizzes
More burnout tests and quizzes
Every version uses the same clinical Burnout Assessment Tool, framed for a different situation.