Universities and colleges face a "stress epidemic"

Stress is widespread in further and higher education thanks to poor management, according to a new survey by education unions.

A major survey carried out for the UCU and ATL teachers' and lecturers' unions found that "management culture" had "actively contributed to stress" in 82% of workplaces. Only 15% of the workers surveyed thought their management had tried to address the causes of stress.

"Across the whole of post-16 education, stress is now at epidemic levels," said Roger Kline, UCU's head of equality and employment rights. "We have warned for a long time that something has to be done, but this survey suggests things have deteriorated still further."

Demands for hitting targets and deadlines, long hours, heavier workloads and frequent changes of timetables or courses were the most commonly cited causes of workplace stress - 82% of respondents said their workloads had increased in the last three years.

Staff also blamed their stress on being given responsibility without the authority to take decisions, feeling undervalued, not receiving administrative support and being bullied or harassed.

ATL general secretary Mary Bousted said she was "horrified" by the results. "Staff can't work effectively in colleges which treat them badly - not only do the staff suffer but their students also suffer as a result, and it's not good for the colleges in the long run either," she added.