People that left teaching and went into another job and ended up coming back? Tell us what job you left to go into and why it didn’t work!? Let’s share so we don’t all make the same mistakes!?

I know one person who left teaching to work as a lecturer but returned as teaching pay was better. They have since left but, again, taken a pay cut.

Yes it is as far as anyone can really tell - it was a consideration of hers when applying for the role. As the job though covers a multitude of courses and 2 departments (teaching and health & social care) she felt that may provide her with a bit more security.

I left teaching in 2007, not because of teaching just because I wanted to be a SAHM so didn't want to work at all.

17 years raising a family, not working. I then was too nervous didn't want to return to teaching.

I went back in support staff role (DDSL) in 2021. I'm now an Assistant Headteacher, back on teaching leadership pay scale, but still don't have a teaching timetable. I LOVE my job, I'm so lucky.

I Ieft teaching to do a mix of self-employment, casual contract work with the council and tutoring. Excellent work life balance and I’m actually better off. No regrets and I’m mainly home

I left teaching primary 10 years ago to set up my home dog boarding business.
Would never go back

I'd love to do a job like this. Can I please ask how you got into it?

There's a whole dedicated section on mumsnet for Education where teachers can discuss experiences.

I left teaching (was a sendco) retrained as a social worker and work with kids with disabilities. Initial small pay cut but very quickly (18months?) Back to about where I was at ups1. Still stressful but much more flexible, better work life balance and can work from home sometimes. I had a colleague who was an hlta previously and she went back in to school for the holidays but had younger kids than me.

There are fewer than 50 of us in the UK. It might genuinely be outing. Sorry.

I left and spent 3 years in University admin.
Outside my office was a massive "Please will you be our teacher" advert and I was sucked back in.

Nearly 30 years later I've had a couple of attempts at escape but the pay and pension are hard to beat after such a long time. I had a mortgage to pay so couldn't afford to retrain.
I now have a very specialist role which I enjoy and which should see me through to retirement in a couple of years.

I had a degree already but not in law, so I did one year conversion course and a second year legal practice course (this has changed now) which was paid for by the firm I went ti work for, and then two years training contract where I got paid to train. I switched in my twenties before I had kids so it was fine.
@blackbird77 I work in a city law firm and several of my colleagues over the years have said they would consider teaching as a backup/ better work life balance career & I just internally laugh - most of them would not have the people skills. Good luck going the other way.

I was one of the last year group to "get in under the wire" and get a state pension at 60, and I just about made it through.....admittedly, I moved over to the independent sector, having "priced myself out of the market" salary-wise.
I kept in touch with former colleagues and would go to their leaving "do's" and I think it's significant that, after a long career in various schools, I only ever once went back to give my good wishes to one male colleague who had reached his 65th birthday, still in the state sector.
It was fascinating to find out what old friends were doing: one was designing and making bespoke fitted kitchens, one was combining an instrumental repair business with some individual tuition, one was offering handywoman services, one was offering specialist party-catering services, one retrained as a legal secretary.
Some were earning equally well, some had taken a drop in income, but nobody seemed to have any regrets. I realise that not everybody comes to reunions, but....

Two of my friends left recently.

One works in education for a premiership football club, the other is the safeguarding lead for a championship club.

Of course neither have returned to teaching.

Not a teacher but have a couple of friends who boomeranged. My observation is that they wrongly thought that rhe reasons they left teaching were unique to teaching whereas they are also an issue in a lot of other jobs- too much admin/ twatty line manager/ ungrateful beneficiaries/ politics and alliances that undermine meritocracy. Similarly I’ve had friends leave the forces expecting that the private sector will be this Mecca of efficiency and common goals and then found out it isn’t.

I would just like the OP to share there story as per their op,

A friend of mine left teaching as a very experienced teacher who disliked being told what to do by young-upstart members of SLT, who, in her words, had got up there by knowing the right arse to kiss.
She went off to do an office job, but found it deathly dull and missed the busy-ness of school life, and the children.

She went back into teaching at a different school, and is really happy. :)

Out of curiosity, is her university financially stable? That would be my fear for going into the university sector.

I was going to say that the advantage of state schools is that they don't go bust, but of course with current demographic trends a fair number of primaries will be closing/merging for lack of pupils.

My DSis was a headteacher- final straw a parent spat in her face! She left and now is in quality assurance for a university. Absolutely loves it slightly less pay but far more flexibility and less stress!

Says she will never go back.

I love it. 32 years.
Love the fun with the kids. Love changing lives

I never entered the profession and neither did the vast majority of my PGCE group, although I really enjoyed and was very good at teaching.
Decided that I would prefer to move abroad. Landed a job doing technical writing for a multi-national company and then ended up going freelance as a business analyst in the IT world, finally becoming a PMO/Project Manager.
I have enjoyed my life and the travel opportunities it afforded me.

I dint know any that gave left and returned. They are all very very happy to be out

My ex left teaching to join the armed forces and he’s never looked back. He’s like a new person and so much happier. I gave up a career in law with a prestigious London law firm to become a teacher in my mid-30s and I bitterly regret it. I’m working the same number of hours in a year (quite possibly slightly more) than I did in law, but for a third of the pay and much worse conditions. I am looking for a way out to go back into law as soon as can. I just want to take my current tutor group through to Year 11 and then I’m gone.

I’ve had many colleagues leave teaching for roles in the police, military, civil service, finance and banking, one even entered medicine to become a doctor.

I think I read somewhere that only 5% of teachers who left teaching return back to the profession for a significant period of time in the same front-line classroom teacher role they left. The majority that return go into a slightly different role (TA, admin role or supply teaching). I don’t know if that’s the exact figure but I do remember reading it’s a very low number. I may be mistaken.

Oh let’s not do that thing when everyone and Mumsnet reckons that every single post is somebody trying to write a feature out of it