Drop out rare PGCE anyone know?

[PGCEwoes]

We’ve lost 12% so far, all officially state they want to “spend time with their families” but unofficially say they feel demoralised unsupported and struggling with the course work load expectations.

Lordie! It’s getting worse... to be fair I think the ones that have escaped early are the real winners here.

I'm a career changer and an NQT, so can really understand this. Teaching is completely blummin brutal, and I think if they can't stand the PGCE it's best they go now really. I thought I'd worked hard in my previous job, I thought I was organised and efficient. Absolutely nothing prepares you for the complete responsibility of 31 x 8 year olds (in my case). You have to be an actor/psychoanalyst/artist/pedant/saint/comedian/pedagogical expert from 9 until 3.30 and then a hyper orgainised lesson planner/marker/parent liaison/social worker/diplomat for two hours before school and three hours after.
I go to bed thinking about my class, dream about them and then wake up thinking about them in the morning.
It is absolutely gruelling, so if any of them are having second thoughts so early on, it's probably better in the long-run.
I only got this far because I really love it, and I am incredibly stubborn. It may be the death of me though!

The other factor for career changers, is that they do have an existing career to go back to, with probably at a better salary too. I have thought about my old calm quiet lovely desk and working-from-home job quite fondly over the last few years!

Nightmare course.

That's true about the funding. I did mine free as well but if I don't think I'd pay to be put through that.

There were 5 trainees in my school. One from a 3 year BEd, one on a uni PGCE course, three on a SCITT. The PGCE one dropped out about three weeks ago.

The rest seem to be ok.

The Schools Direct NQT's at my school are way ahead of me, I wish I'd done that route to be honest, but at the time thought that the PGCE might be more valuable.

I’m not sure why. A lot of people dropped out within the first term. Most of the people who dropped out were 21-year olds fresh from their undergrad, I think almost all the mature students stayed on.

I think a lack of support didn’t help plus a LOT of unnecessary paperwork such as 3xA4 page lesson plan & 2-page evaluation for every lesson. So much emphasis was put on how every lesson plan & evaluation would be checked, that people would get a week behind, start writing lesson plans retrosopectively, get stressed because they’d then have no time to plan, and then would drop out.

Many people waited for loan day then dropped out. Some literally left with two weeks to go & there was no convincing them.