Teachers: would you take a £10k pay cut to get out of teaching?

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I know some teachers love it, but I’m primarily looking at those who don’t.
Do you think it’s too much of a cut?

The pension is the really valuable bit of a teacher’s pay. What will that look like at the new place

Yes, I would look at the pension too. That's the bit keeping me teaching!

Yip! I’ve gone part time. I’m only going back (after mat leave) 2 days per week, so less than half of my full time hours, yet due to tax, NI etc I am likely to get quite a bit more than half of my original pay. To me that’s a win!

I would take a cut of any amount of money to spend as little amount of time there as physically possible 😂

It surely depends on what the other job is? If it is pursuing a passion e.g if you have always wanted to work outdoors or with animals or whatever. But taking a £10k pay cut to move into any job JUST because it is not a teaching job is a bit silly, in my opinion.

If I got genuine enjoyment out of the new role, better work life balance, less stress and anxiety? Then yes.

Yes I’m taking a pay cut to get out. It’s around that amount.

Would, and did.

Also did. Never looked back!

Am already part time and recently moved to a school closer to home but for a slightl
pay cut (not £10k though). Could not afford to lose anymore money though 😏

Would, and did. Have now gone back.....

My husband has just 4 weeks left as an assistant head. Dropping from £57k a year to £30k in a new role with the civil service. Its a big pay drop but he will be much happier and the civil service pension is a great 27.1% employer contribution.

I took an 8k pay cut. Have never been happier! Teaching wasn't for me.

No.

A friend of mine left teaching 3 years ago after 15 years. Largely due to the toxic working practises endemic in the sector and so they could actually have a life. They took a circa 35% pay cut on an SLT salary initially to move into a different sector and saved like hell the 12 months before they quit. 3 years on their salary is back up to SLT level after multiple promotions in new career. The transferability of great communication and influencing skills and the art of prioritizing and multitasking like a demon has made them extremely valuable to their current employer.

OP if you're thinking of getting out of teaching it's more do-able than you probably think and your skills are very valuable in other sectors many of which are struggling to recruit.

My DH pretty much did exactly that. Now in a completely unrelated role but he is so much happier and our work life balance is infinitely better than it was. He misses teaching the kids but not all the shit that went with it.

Absolutely. I did, as did DP and the improvement in our lives is priceless.

And we are far from alone. Massive Facebook group for "leaving the classroom" shows that teachers are leaving in their 1000s even for less pay as when you take actual hours worked into account it's not really a pay cut to drop 10-15k and work normal full time hours with the rest of your time your own.

I'm taking a £4k paycut, I'm losing the school holidays but my DD is older now and at high school so I don't need them as much as I did before and I'm glad to get my evenings back, I'll be WFH for 3 days a week so will be around for DD during the day

I’ve been offered a job with a charity, just over £10k pay cut.
DH has been very supportive but feels drastic! I’m definitely going to accept it but didnt know if I was being an idiot!

Funnily enough it's a not for profit my friend works for!

The feeling of the job/vocation no longer taking up huge amounts of headspace and free time was life changing for them. Clocking off and not thinking about work on evenings and weekends was revolutionary. They don't regret leaving for one second and still do private tutoring on the side with kids that want to learn with none of the beaurocracy.

I know a lot of teachers and the only ones not on the brink of burnout are either in the independent sector or work in schools with exceptional SLTs good at managing trust politics and very experienced teaching staff that can pay lip service but largely ignore the latest bullshit fad they're asked to implement. Even this group could not be described as happy or content.

If you need permission to leave, here it is. If you leave teaching I would suggest you are almost certainly looking after your long term physical and mental wellbeing.

If it meant I had normal working hours and the ability to actually take breaks I’m entitled to so I’m not wrecked each night when I get home then yes.

I know the unions are currently pushing for a 12% pay rise but I’m would be far more interested in them pushing for reduced workload. I’ve only been in it 11 years and the amount of extra tasks that have been put our way in those years is ridiculous.

Took a £20,000 pay cut and have never regretted it.

So live a struggling to make ends meet quality life on a meagre salary for 50 years and then when you’re unable to do much, enjoy the money?

Backward thought process.

I took more than 10k pay cut to get out of teaching and zero regrets

I don't know what your new pension will be like in the charity sector but the teachers pension isn't the only good one out there, my new LGPS one will be at 19% so not too much of a difference.

Although 10k sounds like a hideous drop once you've worked out the difference in your take home pay its probably only a couple of hundred difference due to decrease in tax, NI and student loans.

I will miss working with children, I love that connection you get however I've decided that after I've had a bit of a break I will volunteer at the local brownies, scouts or the cadet sqn I was a member of as a teen.

Yes, I did too, from headship to another sector of education. Pay cut and lost my holidays.
Pleased to be out of school after giving my all, 12-14 hours a day including travel). I LOVED it but couldn’t maintain the workload any longer. I had no home life at all .
I work close enough to schools to see the impossible task teachers and headteachers have including the mess that this government are making, through the academy system.