Protecting the Education Sector
Your staff give everything to their job. Give them OH support to match.
Unlimited Occupational Health, Mental Health Tools and clinical advice in one simple subscription
Education has unique health pressures
Pay Per Referral punishes you for them.
Schools and academies face above-average absence rates, term-time pressure, and a growing mental health crisis in the profession — yet most OH models charge more the more you use them.
- Unpredictable costs are a governance risk:
With 78% of teaching staff reporting work-related stress (Education Support, 2024), and a shocking 30% score below 40 on the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, the cost of supporting your staff is spiralling and unpredictable. - 2.5 million school days were lost to ill health in 2022/23: DofE 2024/25 data shows 65.7% of teachers took sickness absence in 2023/24 and around 14,000 teachers are absent on any term time day – that’s 3% of the teaching workforce.
- Mental health is the number one cause of teacher absence: CIPD data shows education has among the highest stress-related long-term absence rates in any UK sector. And there’s rarely anything in place to catch it early.
- MATs need consistency, not per-school chaos: Multi-academy trusts running separate OH arrangements face inconsistent data, fragmented reporting, and duplicated admin overhead across every school.
“Joining Medigold Health Protect has enabled us to put a health and wellbeing programme in place for our staff and offer them the support they need. This is a great initiative for educational trusts like ours.”
What’s Included?
Everything your school needs. One simple annual subscription.
Protect gives education employers unlimited access to the OH services that matter most – with no bill shock and no per-use charges.
Unlimited Management Referrals
Refer any member of staff, as many times as needed. Phone, video or face-to-face. Manage absence properly without worrying about the cost.
Saves £300 per referral
New Starter Questionnaires
Health screening for every new appointment. Teaching staff, support staff, mid-year joiners. Protect your duty of care from day one.
Saves £20 per questionnaire
GP Report Reviews
Clinical review and interpretation of GP fit notes and medical letters, so you always have expert guidance when managing a complex case.
Saves £100 per report
Clinical Advice Line
Direct access to our OH clinicians for same-day manager guidance. Perfect for early conversations when you’re not sure what to do next.
Unlimited – always available
Thrive Mental Health App
Every employee gets a Thrive licence. A clinically led, NHS‑aligned mental health app, with online CBT, mood tracking and coaching.
Available 24/7.
Wellbeing Resources & Webinars
Dedicated manager and employee portals packed with wellbeing toolkits, training videos, and an interactive events calendar – all on demand.
Chester Diocesan Academies Trust have been a Protect client since 2023
Since partnering with Protect, CDAT has shifted from a reactive approach to staff health towards one that prioritises early support and trust-wide consistency. Managers across the Trust are better equipped to identify and respond to health concerns before they escalate – an approach that has helped address their primary driver of staff absence and reduce the overall demand on their occupational health provision.
Central to this has been the support of a dedicated Client Relationship Manager, whose ongoing involvement has given the Trust a reliable point of contact for guidance and strategic input. Alongside CDAT’s own commitment to open, transparent communication with their workforce, this relationship has helped embed a culture where staff health is managed proactively rather than crisis-led — laying the groundwork for a more resilient and sustainable approach going forward.
Ready to get started?
Find out what Protect would cost your school or trust.
Get a personalised quote in minutes, no commitment and no hard sell – just clear costs and an answer to any questions.