Are you considering leaving teaching? You’re not alone. Within their first five years of qualifying, approximately 30% of teachers decide to leave the profession, as reported by the Department for Education (DfE). In 2022, roughly 40,000 teachers resigned from UK state schools, amounting to nearly 9% of the teaching workforce—an all-time high recorded by the DfE.
I decided I needed to say goodbye to teaching after just 2 years and finally took the leap and left after 5 years. It wasn’t an easy decision, given that teaching had been my lifelong dream. Saying goodbye to my students and colleagues was incredibly difficult but looking back leaving teaching was the best decision I ever made. Here are the reasons behind my decision to leave teaching.
1. Burnout and Stress
Teaching is an incredibly high-stress job. The constant pressure to meet educational standards, manage classroom behaviour, and cater to the diverse needs of students led me to severe burnout. I found myself exhausted and overwhelmed, struggling to maintain my mental and physical health.
2. Lack of Flexibility
Unlike many other professions, teaching offers little flexibility. You can’t take any time off restricting you to only go on holiday in the school holidays which works out so much more expensive. You can’t get a day off to go to a wedding and it’s difficult to even get time off to go to a dentist appointment.
3. I Want to be There for My Future Kids
Ever since I was little, I have always dreamt of being a mum. The demands of teaching made it nearly impossible to balance work and family life. I want to be present for my future kids, pick them up from school and to be an active part of their lives. Leaving teaching was a step towards ensuring that I could be the parent I aspired to be.
4. Low/Capped Pay
Despite the critical role teachers play, the pay is often low and doesn’t reflect the hard work and dedication required. Salaries are capped when you reach the end of the pay scale unless you take on a leadership role, but if you do, you face even more pressure and demands. With the cost of living going up in the UK, it is becoming more difficult to make ends meet and maintain a comfortable lifestyle.
5. Unpaid Extra Hours
I was frequently expected to work beyond my contracted hours without additional pay. This included attending events on evenings, weekends, organising extracurricular activities, and putting in extra time to support my students. The expectation to work extra hours without getting paid added to my stress and frustration.
6. Increasing Student Needs and Lack of Support
Classrooms today are increasingly diverse, with many students requiring additional support for various needs. Unfortunately, the necessary resources and support staff were often lacking due to lack of funding. This made it extremely difficult to teach as most of your time is spent managing the children who needed extra support.
7. It’s Not Just Teaching
The joy of teaching is taken away by the million other things you are required to do. The endless paperwork which was often pointless took away valuable time that could spent doing more meaningful tasks that would actually make a difference to the children’s learning.
8. Overloaded Curriculum and Limited Time
The curriculum was often overloaded with content that I was expected to cover within a limited timeframe. The heavy emphasis on English and maths left little time for the foundation subjects, meaning some children couldn’t excel in the areas where they were strongest.
9. Pressure of Assessments and Data
The pressure of assessments and data collection was overwhelming. Each term brought a sense of dread as assessments loomed, consuming valuable teaching time. In reception and year 1, assessments often had to be conducted one-on-one, which was incredibly time-consuming. Additionally, marking these assessments and collating the data required extensive effort. This focus on testing and data detracted from the time I could spend engaging with my students and delivering meaningful lessons.
10. Bad Behaviour
Managing student behaviour was a significant challenge. Without adequate support and resources, dealing with bad behaviour became a daily struggle. This constant battle to maintain classroom discipline was exhausting and led to burnout.
Teaching is a profession that requires immense dedication, passion, and resilience. However, the challenges outlined above drove me to leave the profession. I now live a life of freedom, running my own online Pilates platform, travelling the world and living life on my terms.
