Would i be better off working as a teacher full or part time?

[allgonebellyup]

Thinking of doing part time PGCE next year, with the view of being a teacher obviously!
I would rather work as a part time teacher but can you do that straight away?
also, money wise, would working part time (eg 16hrs a week)mean i receive as much from tax credits as i would earn from my full time wage? or would it be better to work full time?

Have been on entitledto.com but dont understand their results!

am single parent with 2 dc.

i have 2 dc, my youngest starts school in sept this year, and my eldest will be 9.

yes everyone keeps telling me i am a glutton for punishment in wanting to teach!

It's a great career, but utterly exhilarating and exhausting. I've worked 7.45am - 6pm with 10 mins for lunch and still have paperwork to do tonight. Often colleagues do those hours and have to go back for evening meetings.

I love the work, but oy vay I'm ready for the 'holidays' (I use that term loosely as I do paperwork for part of them).

The wage isn't bad at all- although tbh, It was worse wehn I started and it took a few years to start feeling like I actually had a salary to match the hard work I was putting in. Before that point I very much felt I was working way more hours than what my bank balance told me.
That said, its better as the years go on and yes, its exhausting, but great nonetheless.
Finding the right school is key to your enjoyment of your career.

So what sort of salary would i be on if i worked full time and had already been teaching for 4-5yrs? live in sussex, so wouldnt be london rates.
How quickly does the salary go up?

I rekon it would be about £25k ?

According to a site, this is how it works...

"Each September, provided performance has been deemed to be satisfactory, teachers move one point up on the Main pay scale, until they reach the maximum basic rate of pay"

Just not sure how much each step is?

25k doesnt sound like that much for several years of hard work!
thanks for the info though, most appreciated!

allgone

You go up a scale every year until you reach the 'threshold, (think this is currently around 34-35k?, might be wrong. These are known as 'increments' Each increment is worth about 2- 2.5k.
If your starting salary is around 20 (was under 18 when I started), then you can expect (with yearly small rise in line with inflation etc) to be on around 29-30k by the time you've put in 4-5 years service.
Its ok I suppose, and you are definitely better off than many. That said though, you do work for your money.

Nobody ever goes into teaching for the money clearly.

Oooh that sounds good (29-30k) for all the hard work!!
Pingu, what do you teach?

vocational subjects- in a secondary school

Also allgone

There is scope for earnign extra money in teaching if that was your wish, i.e., as head of dept, head of year etc. You can also supplement your income in the early difficult (skint) years by doing a bit of cash in hand tutoring for GCSE or otherwise. I did this and its really handy. You can charge the going rate and with a subject like English, you're sure to be in demand.

In fact, if you're short- there's nothing to stop you from doing it now, presuming you've got your degree under your belt. I put an ad in the local paper to teach all ages, and was in demand, especially around exam time, or entrance exams for secondary schools.