PGCE + QTS (English) advice

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My DH (38) has recently been made redundant. He has a degree in English and masters in Creative writing and is now thinking of starting a PGCE this September to teach English.
Please anybody who has been through this course or similar, how difficult is he going to find it being a mature student and how intense is the course?
I want him to do it but I also worry he is not fully invested. His main aim is to teach sixth form and tutor eventually. He has always wanted to be a university lecturer and does have a real passion for English Literature, but life took other turns and he applied but was unsuccessful for a few PhD's.
We have two young children and I have quite a demanding career too and I'm worried I won't be able to support him much during this time. I'm reading all kinds of threads about how teaching is so awful now and I'll be honest, I don't know if he is cut out for it but I guess he feels lost now at what to do with his life.

I would always recommend to anyone that they get some school experience before applying for a PGCE - this will really show him if it's the right thing for him or not and give him an idea of the current curriculum / texts he will need to know for the course etc. Could you afford for him to work as a TA for a year?

Has he looked into post 16 training if he would prefer to work with older students? You don't need a PHD to be a university lecturer.

The training year (and probably the first 1-2 years after) are intense but it then gets easier and easier once you are more experienced. Could he apply in a few years when your kids are older if it might be tricky now?

Thanks for your reply @shardlakem

Yes, we could afford due to redundancy. No, he has not looked into post 16 training. Somebody told us he would need a few years secondary experience before they will you teach sixth form but I'm not sure how true that is.

I will advise he try and get some experience first. It's what he does in the next year with himself as his old line of work has barely any jobs now and some being replaced by AI. I know what he's like, he will just want to jump into it but I do think that's a good idea.

You might want to do a bit of research. Teachers are leaving in droves and there are many reasons for this. Workload is excessive, behaviour is awful and working conditions are terrible too. I would advise checking the Exit the Classroom FB page. There are around 175K members all looking to get out and some of the experiences are horrific! He’ll probably get a place on a PGCE without any issues as they can’t fill the places due to lack of demand. It is a very intense course and he will have very little time for much else. If he’s interested in post 16 then he should research this option instead. I wouldn’t set foot in a secondary school these days even if I was paid £1000000!

Definitely get some experience first. I worked in a secondary school for a year before starting my PGCE with my eyes wide open. I’d had 20 years doing something else and within two weeks of being in that environment I knew it was for me.

I do think being slightly older helps (me, anyway!) because I’ve got a bit of a thicker skin just through amassing life experience.

Send a pm if you want to know more about my journey!