Teachers do work long hours but, unlike with most professions, much of the work has to be done at home. This makes it that little bit easier to cope with the demands of family life, providing that the weekly shopping includes plenty of midnight oil.
Officially, teachers' working hours - like so much else in that puzzling profession - are both reassuringly precise and alarmingly vague.
Precise because there is a nationally agreed contract which states that full-time teachers are required to be available for work 195 days in any year to perform such duties at such times and such places as may be specified by the head teacher for 1,265 hours in any year
Vague because the same contract says that teachers are required to work such additional hours as may be needed to discharge their professional duties.
As a result, according to one BBC report teachers work an average of 52 hours a week, but the government insists that a programme to recruit thousands more classroom assistants will reduce the teachers' workload to an average of 45 hours a week.
If you have no qualifications
Teaching is a graduate profession but if you haven't got as much as a single GCSE, don't despair. Contact Learn Direct (0800 100 900) to find out about further education courses in your area and take the first step on the journey to acquiring a degree. If you have the sticking power to succeed, not only will you have a valuable qualification, but you will also have shown yourself to be an ideal role model for children and therefore an excellent candidate for the teaching profession.
If you have a degree
To gain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) you must complete Initial Teacher Training. You can do this on a full or part-time basis.
If you're a graduate who wants to start teaching immediately
Check to see if a school in your area runs a Graduate Teacher Programme which pays graduates £13,000 to train on the job. Further details, together with the all-important information on what grants and bursaries are available, can be found at the Teacher Training Agency website.
You can also get information on courses in Wales from the National Assembly for Wales Further and Higher Education Division
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