TEACHERS in Bolton are so overworked some are taking sick leave to give themselves a rest, a union leader has claimed.

He said a national survey which revealed that a third of teachers wanted to leave the profession in the next five years has come as no surprise to him

Barry Conway, secretary of Bolton's National Union of Teachers, said there was "a deep, deep crisis" in teaching which has left many in the profession feeling demoralised.

A national survey by the General Teaching Council, Mori and The Guardian newspaper revealed that 56 per cent of teachers felt their morale was now lower than when they started in the job, and a third said they would choose a different career if they had their time again.

The survey, in which more than 70,000 teachers took part, also found that they were fed up with their workload, badly behaved pupils and government interference. Carol Adams, General Teaching Council chief executive, presented the survey's findings to its North of England Conference in Warrington yesterday.

Mr Conway said he has had phone calls from dozens of Bolton teachers who are so overworked and fed up that they take sick leave to give themselves a rest.

He said: "The results of the survey don't surprise me. The crisis in teaching will persist until the Government stops issuing new initiatives in schools such as league tables. Things will get a lot worse before they get better, and that's if they get better at all. Teachers feel utterly demoralised."

Schools standards minister David Milliband has insisted that teaching is now a more popular career option than ever. He said: "Our figures show that nearly two thirds of teachers are happy with their career choice."

We should stop talking down the profession."