Notice period

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Teaching on a 1 year contract. Can you quit at Feb half term? How much notice required?

• Check your contract, but no, you are not able to leave at Feb half term, unless you get your Headteacher's agreement. One year contracts are the same as permanent contracts in terms of resignation dates. The resignation dates are as follows:

• to leave at 31 December, give notice by no later than 31 October;
• to leave at 30 April, give notice by no later than 28 February; and
• to leave at 31 August, give notice by no later than 31 May.

It will depend on your contact, but usually, no.

For most teachers:

Resign by 28 Feb to leave at Easter
Resign by 31 May to leave in Summer
Resign by 31 Oct to leave at Christmas

Thank you for your replies. What would happen though if I did state I was leaving at half term?

It depends on your situation. Your Headteacher could refuse you permission to leave. Why do you need to leave at half term? Headteachers will usually give permission for teachers to leave outside of the normal notice periods if you have a valid reason (i.e moving house , family tragedies, illness etc) but if you leave without agreement (which you could do, nobody is going to handcuff you to the the school!) you risk not getting a reference for future jobs and could in theory be sued for breach of contract although this rarely happens.

It's much better to chat to your Headteacher, and ask to be released early. Most will allow you to go, if you have a valid reason.