‘The task is impossible’: three teachers on why they are quitting

Max, in his 30s, a primary school teacher from southern England, is among thousands of teachers in England who will be striking on Wednesday to protest against the government’s offer of a 4.3% pay rise and £1,000 one-off payment.

He will only be striking, though, he says, in solidarity with colleagues. “I have handed in my notice and will be leaving the profession in 10 days’ time. It is my third year as a teacher and it has been horrendous.”

Max is one of hundreds of teachers who shared with the Guardian why they had decided to quit or are considering doing so.

Many cited unacceptable, growing demands on teachers, stress relating to Ofsted inspections, and low pay as their main complaints, pointing out that unfillable vacancies mean class sizes balloon while the quality of lessons suffers.

Dozens of respondents highlighted their struggles with increasingly poor pupil behaviour post-Covid and rising numbers of children with additional needs, at a time where school budgets are already stretched to the maximum.

The latest workforce survey by the Department for Education (DfE) found that 40,000 teachers resigned from state schools last year – almost 9% of the teaching workforce, and the highest number since it began publishing the data in 2011 – while a further 4,000 retired.

“For me, it was the way I was being treated, as well as the absolutely obscene workload: clocking up 50 hours a week and then having to do reports and other non-teaching related activities in your own time,” Max says.

“Being verbally abused and in some cases physically abused by eight-year-old children. The school’s inability to provide for children with Send (special educational needs and disabilities) due to a lack of expertise and lack of support, coupled with really high pressure and high expectations that the school governors pass down.”

In his class of 27 children, a quarter have complex special educational needs, he says. “Some of them have autism, but there is no additional support, it’s always just me in the classroom. Then you get grilled when some kids haven’t reached age-related expectations. The task is impossible.”

Similar issues are being experienced by teachers in secondary state education.

Lucy, a history teacher at a large comprehensive school in the south-west, will also be striking on Wednesday, although she is about to leave the state school sector just one year after qualifying.

“I’m moving to a private school, something I never thought I’d do. So, while ‘teacher’ is still my job title, I will be part of the statistics for teachers who leave state education,” she says.

“I fully support the teachers’ strikes, and not everybody at my school does. Class sizes of 27 to over 30 mean there is no chance for individual feedback or one-to-one time with pupils.”

Lucy says five other teachers at her school who have only started their teaching careers within the past two years are also leaving.

“I don’t feel that I am a teacher; I’m babysitting until 3pm, as pupils’ behaviour leaves no room for teaching. I found the attitudes to learning genuinely shocking. Pupils at my school – which has a mixed population of affluent and poorer families – frequently refuse to work, ignoring basic tasks such as ‘open your book’.

“They come to school without equipment and I am expected to provide pens and pencils multiple times a day with no budget. I have had students swear at me, wreck display boards, throw things at me.

“It’s a stressful and depressing way to see young people grow up. I’m very leftwing and chose the state school sector to do something good, but I now believe that, unless the government dramatically increases education funding, they should focus on giving kids who want to do well better options. That’s how bad I think it is.”

Lucy says her job change will leave her with an effective pay cut, as the area she is moving to has a higher cost of living. “My pay will mean I can no longer afford a flat and will have to move back in with my family, but at the new school there will only be 15 kids per class, which is my main motivation.

“I am a good teacher. I do not struggle with behaviour management unless it’s an extreme situation; I know how to engage learners. I can cope well with high workloads and am resilient. I simply value myself too highly to do this job, and I look around myself every day and think, ‘Why are you all still doing this?’ And soon, I expect, hardly anyone will be.”

Her fellow teacher Andrew Draper from Chippenham has come to the same conclusion, and will leave teaching at the end of July.

“I recently handed in my resignation, after eight years in the job,” the 50-year-old secondary maths teacher and head of key stage 4 says. “This was a difficult decision. The reasons are various, but the current strikes and government response have caused me to question my efforts and commitment to a profession I have enjoyed and supported. This profession is just not valued enough.”

Like many of his colleagues, Draper says rising stress levels made it untenable for him to remain in post.

“I regularly work a 55-hour week, and usually spend four hours every Saturday planning. My wife can’t understand how and why I devote so much of my time. Although my salary of around £42k is not the reason I’m leaving, it’s not enough for what I do.

“Behaviour has worsened since Covid and more students are not attending class.”

Draper also worries that staff shortages will mean even bigger class sizes, more non-specialist teachers and reduced subjects for students.

“By the time the government addresses the issues, I fear too much damage will have been done to the prospects of our young people.”

Since he handed in his notice at the end of May, Draper says, the school has received almost no applications for his position despite advertising. “A second maths teacher is also leaving, and the school is now in a very difficult position, which I feel bad about.

“I will absolutely miss helping students with their social and educational development, but I will be moving on to an improved salary in engineering, and more importantly, I’ll be working a 37-hour week and not a minute longer.”