“Teachers work longer hours - and have seen a sharper drop in pay - than police officers and nurses”, a new study suggests.  “And teachers are the least satisfied out of the three professions with the amount of leisure time they have.”

The findings come amid concerns about teacher workload and staff shortages. In March, the Education Secretary Damian Hinds pledged to cut teacher workload to improve staff retention. But, the National Foundation for Educational Research, shows that teachers still work 50 hours or more a week during term time. Still, this excludes school holidays and how much teachers may work during these breaks- marking, creating PowerPoints and handouts, making a lesson plan and so on.

The study notes that all public sector workers have faced a pay freeze or a cap on wage increases since 2010 (which I have previously discussed in my other updates). The study also estimates that teachers' real average hourly pay has dropped by about 15 per cent since 2009/10.

Carole Willis, NFER chief executive, said: “This is an important piece of research to gain insight into […] the difficulties faced in recruitment and retention [in] teaching.” So, the simple solution? Increase Teachers’ pay. Make it fair. They deserve to be rewarded and recognised for the hours they put into their job and the exceptional job they do teaching us. Because if I’m being honest, it takes really good teachers to teach my dumb ass. If proof of this is needed, see the photo attached. Yes… I initially related to Gharieth.