Thinking about becoming a teacher... how to work out potential earnings?

[Woodlandwitch]

I’d love to change career and become a teacher but despite looking online I can’t work out salaries.

Some say £22k some say £35 for newly qualified teachers but does that then become pro rata for the weeks worked?

I’d love to teach English or history at secondary school.

Can anyone give any advise as to what a rough idea would be for a starting salary and what it could go up to if you became a head of subject?

Just finished my first year teaching and I take home about £1500 a month if that helps!

Top of the pay scale for classroom teacher is £40k. The allowance for a head of department is a few extra grand, depending on the school. A head of dept for English will probably get a bigger allowance than a head of dept for History.
I’m way out of touch with starting salaries, sorry.

pay scales

It depends where you live.

In you're in London or the London's 'fringe' then you get a bit more but in the rest of England a newly qualified teacher starts on £24,373.

This should gradually climb each year for the first 6 years.

Worth thinking ahead too: in some schools you will struggle to get above the M6 salary (after 6 years), in others they will wave you through onto upper pay scale. It can also be tricky to move schools and maintain your pay level if you are more expensive.

I take £2300 a month after deductions, in my 7th year.

Remember there is no longer any pay portability when you move schools. You may have to negotiate to ensure you keep your existing salary not just any increase you might be looking for. Always ensure you are aware of the salary being offered before accepting a post.
Many schools are under the cosh, budget wise, and aren't able to pay the recommended pay increases or move people up the pay range annually, as used to be the norm.

Remember that your hourly salary depends how many hours you work. You’ll be doing 60-70 hours a week, not 40 hours. So you may as well assume the hourly salary is only 2/3 of what you’re actually paid.

I think I’m being paid about 50p an hour, all in

An NQT in England this year gets £24,373 if their school works on the pay scales.

Ive no idea where this £35,000 for an NQT comes from.

Head of department in English will pay more than Head of history,often more staff, bigger budget, more students to be accountable for. Size of TLR (leadership payment) will depend on school.

It’s definitely not £35k for a newly qualified teacher. That’s what I earn and I’ve been teaching for 10 years (actually I’m part time but that’s what I would earn if I were full time). Teachers salary is already reduced due to the long holidays. Salary would only be pro rated were you to work part time, which is virtually impossible as newly qualified teacher. See the pay scales a pp linked to.

Our nqt in maths earns just under 25000. We recently had a conversation about it because last year as a trainee she got 25k tax free and now earns less and has tax/ni/pension taken off. She's said she's about £600 a month worse off being qualified then being a trainee. Madness.

duckling and that's exactly why those ridiculous bursaries should be scrapped and the money should be spent on retention.

As an unqualified teacher / instructor I earn just over £22000 on level 3. NQTs don't earn much more.

Get some time in a school to see what it is really like, perhaps as a TA or cover supervisor. With any luck your school will pay for your teacher training when the time comes. You will gain experience of being in the classroom and it gives you the chance to remove any rose-tinted ideas of what teaching is all about. If you are able to get an unqualified teachers post you can move your payscale across when you qualify. There are 6 bands and 4 and above pay more than NQT. Band 6 unqualified is the same as a teacher in their third year.

I've been teaching for 23 years in the Midlands in primary and I earn £2300 a month on UPS3, after tax, NI and pension.

That's it unless I become a deputy head, which isn't going to happen. So unless the government decide to increase our pay the average primary school teacher doesn't earn anymore.

Some schools offer certain staff TLR's but many schools can't afford this.