To assume teachers will leave private schools

[BagGreen24]

I'm a teacher and looking at new jobs. A job in a local independent school has come up. When I looked in to it the salary is the same as the local comp but the pension offer is much much lower as they are no longer in the teacher pension scheme.

Am I being unreasonable to think it'll be difficult to attract, recruit and retain staff now independent schools? I get behaviour will probably be significantly better and classe sizes smaller etc but I imagine it's still a difficult job and the pressure for results will be the same if not worse.

Lots of people leave lots of jobs for lots of reasons.

Can’t imagine a mass exodus here.

Private schools have been offering pensions outside the teachers pension scheme for many years. If they have difficulty attracting teachers, they will increase the pay. If they have not, I assume they are happy with the applicants they get.

Depends on the school. A friend is at a boarding school and has a tied house with it, so it's not just about the pension.

He is considering leaving, but if he does, he will leave the profession entirely.

Private hospitals usually do not offer pensions anywhere near as good as NHS pensions, but you still get staff like nurses working in them.

You can always top up your own private pension as an option. It doesn’t just have to come from your salary. This is what I do (work in NHS).

Some schools are still in it, I know 2 teachers who left state for lower salary & reduced pension but got fee discounts.

You would have to pay a lot to get the equivalent in a private pension.
But people choose jobs for other reasons than the pension.

I’ve done both. It’s a different lifestyle. Some private school teachers want to be involved in lots of extracurricular activities. Especially sports. Some prefer longer days in term time and shorter terms. For some it’s just job availability at the time.

I think an Academy Trust has looked at opting out of TPS. At 28% employer contributions it is horrendously expensive for employers

I was talking about this with my brother recently, he is a deputy head at a Scottish private school, his school is still part of the 2015 teachers pension scheme, pays between 5 and 7% above the state school pay grades and teachers get 60% off school fees. As a result they have the best teachers in the area, they are never short of excellent applicants.
The great teachers mean very few pupils have left due to VAT, those who have have been quickly replaced by kids on the waiting list. They have higher fees (by quite a bit) than all the other schools in the area.
I think that some schools are going to have change how they approach things, as clearly in this case at least, compensating the teachers well has paid off and they are coping with VAT just fine while other schools in his area are on there knees (two of them have decided to merge from 2026, another small one is close to closure).

I always thought private school staff were paid less because of the benefit of smaller class sizes and lower workload. I have a friend who works on reception in a private school and had to go to her union as she was getting paid lower than minimum wage!

The fee discount is a big pull for many teachers in private schools, as well as accommodation & longer holidays

I got offered a middle leader job at a private school. Had to turn it down because they were offering less money than I was on as a classroom teacher at a state school. Less pay, less pension, longer school days.

Most teachers in my children’s private school have children there on 50% fees and a subsidised house. That’s worth way more than the pension. They have also been out of TPS for many years - hasn’t affected recruitment, in fact, they had over 20 candidates for a maths post recently and maths is notoriously difficult to recruit for.

Teachers Are leaving state school in droves. Who would want to teach there with all the bad behaviour? We had a child expelled last week for constantly low level disruption since September. They take no messing. Private school is generally a lovely environment to work in.

I'm nor a teacher but have daughters in 3 different private schools and any vacancies, which are probably 1 or 2 every 3 or 4 years to date appear to be snapped up. Local schools if the papers are to believed have long term vacancies which aren't being filled.

Is that even after adjusting for longer holidays?

It depends what you want though. Since private schools usually have smaller class sizes, that's a lot less taxing on the person teaching them and trying to control behaviour etc.

Plus, it sounds as if state secondary schools are even more challenging to be in than ever, post Covid.

Often teaching at a private school means the teachers’ kids can study there at a heavily discounted rate. And lots of other perks.

OP it sounds like you need to do a bit more work to understand what the private system is and how it works. Comparing pay and pension alone is very short sighted and overlooks a lot of differences in working conditions and expectations that add up to the general situation that no, teachers are not leaving in droves.

You also need to consider holidays, teaching hours, class sizes, discipline, student motivation, staff morale, CPD opportunities, facilities depending on your subject, and I’m sure many more factors.

You also need to understand the school’s selection process and academic ambitions to determine how much pressure there is to achieve results.

If you don’t have this information then you can’t make a balanced judgment on what working conditions will be like and you certainly can’t assume that people are leaving in droves (they’re not). If you’re not keen on engaging with that information then private school is probably not for you.

The parents pay a lot of money to have teachers who want to be there for the right reasons, and it’s the schools job to make sure they create an environment that’s conducive to that. Generally I think they get it reasonably right, the govt could learn a lot of lessons from them.

TPS has become unaffordable for lots of private schools since the increase in employers’ contributions. Fortunately ours allows existing teachers to remain in; different scheme for new colleagues. I think this is common. Salaries are generally higher than in state sector though. Plus you get reduced fees for your own children. So, no incentive for me to leave or move schools.

The possibility of smaller classes, better behaviour and a nicer working environment in general can attract staff even if the salary is lower.

We still get loads of applications for posts too. And I know that I earn more here as a classroom teacher than I would as HoD or subject leader in other local schools, so it varies a lot. A big successful independent school is still a secure place to work.

teacher recruitment & retention is definitely a thing in both sectors

What a ridiculous sweeping summary. Behaviour is not bad in state schools- the vast majority of schools 88% are rated good or above and behaviour is scrutinised to get good. Not all private schools are lovely environments to work in either. I’ve got friends who removed children due to bullying and poor behaviour not being dealt with in the private sector for fear of upsetting fee paying parents.

Anybody suggesting pay and pension shouldn’t be very high on the priority list in this climate are being ridiculous and clearly talking from a place of privilege.

Private schools accept untrained teachers. Not necessarily unqualified in their subject, but without PGCE or QTS. So lesser conditions and at times even lower salaries work for them.

As harsh as the state system is for teachers, it does tend to recruit quality teaching staff. It just lambasts their ability to do a really good job with the ridiculous workload and class sizes loaded on them.