Hi all, a bit of background as a starting point.
I am a 37 year old female, I have a partner and two children (currently 15 and 8).
When younger I left college after completing my first year of a levels and went into full time work where I have stayed since.
I had always liked the idea of being a teacher so last year I started uni (through the open university as I need to work to pay my bills and it seemed the best route) and I am just about to start my second year of a history degree which I am doing well in so far.
The plan I had in my head was to complete my degree and then apply to do a PGCE and go into teaching.
This week after a completely random email I started looking into graduate schemes and some have really caught my eye.
Work wise I have always been in run of the mill low paid unskilled work such as call centres/retail which I don’t want to stay in and although I am older I potentially have another 30 years of work left which is a hell of a long time in a job you don’t enjoy.
The schemes I have been looking at tend to be 1-2 years in which they train you to area manager level.
My questions at this point are:
- Do you think at almost 40 I would even have a chance of either at an older age?
- If I did get the required grades for either the pgce or graduate scheme does anyone have experiences of them they could share
- I see so much about teachers leaving in their droves and I will admit the pay for the graduate schemes is so much higher than teaching that it is a factor but I know both will be very hard work so am I crazy to even think about it?
Any advice welcome as I am a little torn and although I have some time I like to plan ahead and think through go my options and potentially start some research/prep into what I may need going forward