Teacher or Solicitor

My ultimate goal is to just reach the end of the teacher pay scale by the age of 30 (U3) if I enter the profession at 22.

And I wouldn’t enter the profession if it was 60 hours a week. I did ask mgi if the school they worked at played a determining factor or are schools like that?

Tbh, I dont know what to do, because if I do a Law degree, & I’d struggle to enter teaching as it isnt a core subject. I want to teach either English or Biology but I dont know if that would happen due to no SKE in Biology

My understanding from speaking to colleagues is that typically, if you stick to classroom teaching, you can expect to progress to the Upper Pay Scale (so U1) after about 7 years. However, this is just based on a one-off comment and I personally don't know much about the topic. If the pay is important to you, I strongly advise seeking advice on likely pay progression from forums that have a larger number of experienced teachers (TES would probably be good). TSR tends to be more populated by early career teachers, though I know there are more experienced teachers on here.

I can't speak for mgi's situation, I don't doubt that they're being honest though. I can say that personally, I do not work 60 hour weeks and I don't see the people around me (who are just classroom teachers) working 60 hour weeks. However, I do know some people who are at the same stage in their career as me who do work those sorts of long hours.

As I've mentioned before, since you're still in school, my best advice would be to take a degree in a subject that interests you and then see where things go from there. Even with a Law degree, you can get onto teacher training courses (can't remember if I mentioned, but there was somebody in my cohort who taught History with a Law degree, as well as somebody with a Psychology degree teaching English, etc.). It's likely that as you get older, your priorities will shift and what you look for in a job might change too. Since teacher training is something that can be picked up at any stage of your life really, I wouldn't stress about making an absolute decision now.

And I understand that obvs NQT and PGCE years are gonna be longer because you’re gonna adjust but some schools like my one had teachers who uploaded their lesson plans on their forum thingy for the dept. so other fellow teachers could use it.. so in that sense teaching is heavily influenced on colleague and school culture!

But I have seen the PGCE requirements and they seem to be very stern ie. a 50% part of your degree. You did mention that but those who do an unrelated degree usually go through a difficult TeachFirst course

The thing is, at this stage, I want a rewarding job where I wake up knowing I’ll make a difference in one’s life. But this will always stand: I want a job where I’m still human - with a social and physical wellbeing (I did mention how much my body & mind etc. is important to me - I don’t want any job to overtake that)

I would ideally want to teach strictly Biology as i enjoy it alot and it is easy to mark but I’m not wanting to teach GCSE chem or physics (Dont mind teaching them to Year 7s and 8s)

Again, I’d love to be a teacher at good school due to the rewarding element to it and if as long as the school is supportive and good culture - I don’t mind if the pay scale doesn’t change (as long as I progress up it)

The horror stories of teaching I’ve read are so scary! Then some are ideal - like yours and my teachers’ I had at my secondary school.

U3 by 30 is a big ask, but not impossible. It depends hugely on the schools you work at (whether you move up automatically or whether your have to meet certain targets. The jump between M6 and U1 often requires lots of extra work, as do the jumps between U1 and U2, or U2 and U3, which usually take at least 2 years each).
It doesn't sound like money is your motivation for teaching though!
If you want to do it, go for it! Every job has horror stories and people who couldn't hack it.
I'm a teacher with 6 years experience and I now generally work 7.30-5 in school and then 2 hours when I get home, and one day at the weekend, which is pretty doable. It's only during report writing or exam weeks now that I'm really flat out working late or all weekend. The PGCE and nqt years are tough though, but there are lots of enjoyable moments too.
I'm happy to answer any question you have about teaching!

solicitor is mostly administrative, getting your clients from point A to point B in terms of contracts, negotiations and applications. it's literally an office job as opposed to what you see on tv (arguing law and all that). so if you can't see the benefit in doing an office job, i think you'd find it extremely boring compared to the daily interaction of teaching a class.

you could always go for teacher and try solicitor later. my friend had to compete for a TC with someone who'd worked at Google for 15 years.

Wait so off-exam season:
• Monday to friday : 7.30 am - 5pm, get home & then 2 hours more of work & then one weekend of full work
• and then exam season hard work all day every day
• do you have any other roles? Or are you just a classroom teacher?
• I dont want to teach physics at all for sure!! I was awful at it! And as for chemistry i think i could teach it if I undergo the SKE courses
• and I don’t mind staying at M6 if it proves to take too much of my personal time!

I’d say after my NQT year I’d like to be working 7:30-5:30 ish every normal day & maybe abit of work on the weekend like 1-2 hrs max!

But i do hear that you Teach Bio at a Level - that must take a lifetime to mark!

So would you be blaming a crappy school with no support or are school gonna be this hard and crappy? I’m sorry if u said this but did u teach primary or secondary

I’m at college taking bio psych english lit

I need to apply to unis and wanna teach english specifically

Secondary school. I worked in more than one school. The system itself is broken.But don't believe me, try it for yourself! To be honest it is your life and your decision! I made mine! You can do the research for yourself about how many teachers would like to quit the "profession":

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/apr/16/fifth-of-teachers-plan-to-leave-profession-within-two-years

Usually I just work one day at the weekend and have one day off, but the rest of the statements are correct.
I'm just a classroom teacher, no extra roles at the moment. I started taking on things in my first few years teaching, but it was a lot more work so I back tracked for a bit of an easier life.
Yes, during term time it is a lot of hard work, but you get plenty of chance to recharge during the holidays and lots of opportunities for things like travelling during the summer, which you don't really get in other jobs.
Bio A level does take a lot of time marking, but I find the subject really interesting and it's great being able to help students who love it too and give them feedback to help them get good grades and get into uni.
Your workload does also hugely depend on the school and what you decide to take on. I worked at a private school for 3 years and was boarding staff too, I ended up working 100+ hours a week but I got free accommodation and food on top of my salary so it meant I had money for a house deposit after I left.

Edit: you really won't need to do an SKE for chemistry, your bio degree will have quite a bit of chemistry in it so you will be fine by the time you need to teach chemistry.

I have many friends from my pgce who have now quit, and many more who moved out of teaching in a state secondary! It's certainly not as easy a job as people think. I nearly quit a few times in the early days too.

Hmmm thanks for this! I deffo want to teach bio and maybe chem (ughhhh) but I will actually refuse to teach Physics only in extreme circumstances if the teacher leaves or something
And yes I will fish around for a good school before starting there and I’m gonna ask about all things in place to protect teacher from work stress!
Okay thank you! Chemistry is fine to teach but I really hate the practical element eeeekk
I’d rather remain at M6 as a classroom teacher though and establish a controlled pattern in my work and social life balance

Yes, unless one really firmly insists on a proper work-life balance regardless of what school leaders think then one's personal life and health will suffer.

Hmmm thanks for this! I deffo want to teach bio and maybe chem (ughhhh) but I will actually refuse to teach Physics only in extreme circumstances if the teacher leaves or something
And yes I will fish around for a good school before starting there and I’m gonna ask about all things in place to protect teacher from work stress!
Okay thank you! Chemistry is fine to teach but I really hate the practical element eeeekk
I’d rather remain at M6 as a classroom teacher though and establish a controlled pattern in my work and social life balance

I think it will suffer to an extent in any teaching role (as with many jobs), but at least there are the holidays to recharge in!

Becoming a solicitor will be a much longer and harder process and will be more competitive. You really need to think about the jobs and what you could see yourself enjoying week in week out

It actually isn't a much longer harder process tbh. A uni graduate can become a solicitor in 2 years.
After graduation one would still have to undergo 2 more years of training to be fully registered as a qualified teacher.
And why do you think that law is more competitive than teaching? better salaries for sure and better status!

Yeah but Law is a VERY saturated field like very hard to break through if you dont have a strong experience background, strong degree from a good uni & excellent academic background! Unlike with teaching, it is fairly okay. I think my view on teaching is only positive because My teachers had success stories etc. they seemed happy in life with good cars and always had the latest phones and designer clothes!
But maybe, my experience wont be so positive if I dont get put in such a supportive school like my old one