Just 23 per cent of teachers say they would “certainly” retrain as a teacher if given the option to go back in time and choose their career path again, new data shows.
The figure, taken from a survey of over 8,000 teachers in the UK by Teacher Tapp, is even more notable when compared to the fact 42 per cent of teachers said they would train again as a teacher in 2018, showing the last five years have been especially tough.
However, while the stress and upheavals of the pandemic will undoubtedly have played a part in this, the biggest drop of 10 per cent happened between 2022 and 2023.
Laura McInerney, co-founder of Teacher Tapp, said this suggested the rising cost of living and the erosion of teacher pay had a big impact on how respondents answered the question this year.
“Teachers may be looking at people in other professions, like their counterparts at university who are better paid, and considering whether they would have been able to weather the cost-of-living crisis better in those jobs,” she told Tes.
The data from Teacher Tapp also noted that response rates were worse in primary schools, with just 21 per cent saying they would train for the role again, compared to 25 per cent of secondary school teachers.
The survey findings also suggest that while many teachers revealed they entered the profession in the 1990s and 2000s due to the prospect of a good income that could “be managed around family life”, that now feels far less likely.
“Increasingly, that feels harder to achieve, which may be the reason for this incredibly worrying statistic,” the Teacher Tapp blog states.
The figures chime with wider sector concerns on numerous related factors such as declining recruitment and retention, strikes over pay and issues with the Ofsted inspection framework and the stress it causes leaders.
Responding to the findings general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, Geoff Barton, said the data made for “grim reading” and was clear evidence these concerns are making the profession less attractive than it once was.
“It fits a pattern of government recruitment targets being repeatedly missed, increasing numbers leaving the profession for jobs elsewhere, and consequent teacher shortages that have only worsened,” he told Tes.
“Fixing this problem is a matter of urgency but the government has utterly failed to take the action necessary to value and sustain a viable workforce.”
