What’s it like moving from 11-18 to a post 16 teaching role?

[WH40smama]

I have lots of experience teaching A level and am good at it. I currently teach 11-16 in an 11-18 school and am enjoying it but finding the relentless challenge of the younger students quite tiring and demoralising at times. A job has come up at a local post 16 college teaching my subject at A level (and an applied course) with the same part time contract I currently have. Would I miss the younger years? I do really enjoy GCSE teaching. It’s very close to home but not quite as close as my current school. I feel like I would be trading behaviour challenges for more marking. I realise that only I can make the decision but I’d love to hear from others who have moved to post 16.

Hi, I moved to an FE college a few years ago and I’m now looking to return to secondary. There is definitely more time to plan and mark but the day is longer, large classes and more pressure depending on the college. Yes no duties and not dealing with behaviour are positives and the fact so many schools are closing their 6th forms. Make sure you look at the FE pay scale (if you go in as an experienced teacher with a PGCE you should be paid at top of scale around £45k). There’s a real mix of former secondary teachers and teachers who went straight to work in FE where I am, the workplace environment is not as friendly in my experience as secondary. Also know your worth and go and have a good look around. I miss teaching the younger years and the hustle and bustle of secondary, I find FE very corporate which is just not me. I have several colleagues who are looking to return to secondary too, mostly for financial reasons as pay and conditions are very different.

Thank you, really interesting to hear your perspective. The pay scale is the same as secondary but day def slightly longer. I’ve arranged a visit on Monday and have a list of questions to ask.

Go for it. If you teach English or maths you may be asked to teach some gcse too.
I loved FE. Pay tends to be a bit less. Holidays a bit shorter. There's loads of different contracts available, unlike schools.
There tends to be less micro management than at schools. There can be some behaviour issues but less silliness than at schools.
I found it more relaxed than the school environment. My pgce was post compulsory education although I did some teaching in schools.
Some of my ex school teacher colleagues are still in FE 10 years later. A few pgcse pcet colleagues went to teach in schools.

Some FE colleagues returned to teaching in schools, some went to the private sector, at least 4 moved on to teach in universities, some went to other colleges, some went into other areas within the college system - one law teacher became safeguarding lead.
If you don't enjoy it, put the experience on your cv and move on.
The world is your oyster. Go for it.

I moved to FE 10 years ago and would never go back to secondary. I have a lot more autonomy than I did in school, smaller classes, I get to just teach my subject (in my last secondary I did 3 x humanities and a bit of English), I have a lot more flexibility (I get TOIL for trips/open days etc and can use it for the odd morning off for sports day/nativity etc). However I earn less than I would have if I’d stayed in school, and I have a little less holiday - but we have time when the students are on holiday and we aren’t so my holiday time is genuinely holiday. I have a great team and great boss, and that plays a really big part in how happy I am to work there, and some of what I’ve said won’t apply to every college. The salary quoted above is nowhere near what our lecturers earn though! I earn slightly less than that and have some additional responsibilities. Again, salaries and holiday allowances can vary massively between colleges, so something to ask about!